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ESSENTIALS IN HISTORY 

NEW 

MEDIEVAL AND MODERN 

HISTORY 



BY 

SAMUEL BANNISTER HARDING, Ph.D. 

PROFESSOR OF EUROPEAN HISTORY, INDIANA UNIVERSITY 



Based upon the author' s " Essentials in Medieval and Modern 
History ' ' prepared in consultation with, 

ALBERT BUSHNELL HART, LL.D. 

PROFESSOK OF HISTORY, HARVARD UNIVERSITY 




AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY 

NEW YORK CINCINNATI CHICAGO 



3\ 10-3 



ESSENTIALS IN HISTORY 

A SERIES PREPARED UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF 

ALBERT BUSHNELL HART, LL.D. 

PROFESSOR OF HISTORY, HARVARD UNIVERSITY 



ESSENTIALS IN ANCIENT HISTORY 

By ARTHUR MAYER WOLFSON, Ph.D. 

ESSENTIALS IN MEDIEVAL AND MODERN 
HISTORY 

By SAMUEL BANNISTER HARDING, Ph D. 

ESSENTIALS IN ENGLISH HISTORY 

By ALBERT PERRY WALKER, A.M. 

ESSENTIALS IN AMERICAN HISTORY 

By ALBERT BUSHNELL HART, LL.D. 



NEW MEDIEVAL AND MODERN HISTORY 

By SAMUEL BANNISTER HARDING, Ph.D. 



Copyright, 1913, by 

SAMUEL BANNISTER HARDING. 

Copyright, 1913, in Great Britain. 



NEW MED. & mod. HIST. 

w. p. I. 



)CI.A:]54044 



PREFACE 

This book is something more than a revision of the author's 
Essentials in Mediceval and Modern History. As the task of 
revision progressed, its scope was so enlarged that, by reorgan- 
ization, extension, and rewriting, the result became practically a 
new work. It has been deemed best, therefore, to give to the 
book a distinctive name, and at the same time to continue the 
publication of the old volume. In general the aim in this book 
has been to decrease the amount of space devoted to political 
and military details, and to increase the emphasis on social, 
industrial, and cultural topics. Full treatment also is given to 
the important events which have occurred since the Essentials 
in MedicEval a?td Modern History was first published. Instead 
of treating these in a supplementary chapter, they have been 
woven, so far as practical, into their logical places in the narra- 
tive. In conformity with what is now the established tendency, 
greater emphasis has been put on the events of our own time 
than on those of former ages. It is now generally recognized 
that a leading aim of the study of history is to enable one to 
understand the world of to-day. 

Profuse and adequate illustrations and maps are inserted in 
proper relation to the text. It is believed that the breaking 
up of the chapters into lettered subdivisions will facilitate the 
assignment of lessons, and it is hoped that the new teaching 
apparatus will prove especially useful. A table of rulers is 
inserted at the beginning of the volume for convenience of refer- 
ence ; lists of important dates follow the several chapters ; and 
in connection with each search topic a few carefully selected ref- 
erences are printed to guide the pupil in his collateral reading. 

No pains have been spared to adapt the book to the needs 
of the schools and to the powers of the pupils. The success 



IV PREFACE 

which has been attained in this endeavor is due in very large 
part to the patient cooperation of a number of expert teachers. 
To Miss Margaret Snodgrass, of Lake View High School (Chi- 
cago), the author is indebted for very efficient collaboration in 
the whole task of revising and rewriting the book, and in read- 
ing the proof. Miss Josephine M. Cox, of Shortridge High 
School (Indianapolis), Miss Mattie B. Lacy, of Manual Training 
High School (Indianapolis), and Miss Mabel Ryan, of Garfield 
High School (Terre Haute), each read the manuscript at two 
different stages, and went over it with the author in repeated 
joint conferences. In addition, Mr. F. P. Goodwin, of the 
Woodward High School (Cincinnati), Mr. E. M. Benedict, of 
the Walnut Hills High School (Cincinnati), and Mr. F. F. Herr, 
of the Youngstown (Ohio) High School, carefully read the man- 
uscript and offered many valuable suggestions, the outgrowth 
of their wide experience as teachers. Finally the author is 
indebted to Messrs. Scott, Foresman & Company, of Chicago, 
for permission to incorporate in this text certain passages from 
his grade readers, entitled The Story of the Middle Ages, The 
Story of England, and The Story of Europe, published by them. 
To all of these persons, and to others who are not here named, 
the author makes grateful acknowledgment. 

The following suggestions are offered concerning the teaching 
of the subject : — 

1. Make sure, the author would urge, that the pupil under- 
stands what he reads and recites, and lead him to penetrate back 
of the narrative to the things themselves, — to realize, visualise 
history. The simplest words and expressions sometimes prove 
difficult ; and it is always desirable to lead the pupil away from 
the language of the book to his own expression. 

2. Require the keeping of notebooks for class notes and dicta- 
tions, for collateral reading, and for analyses by the pupil of 
chapters in the text. 

3. Use should be made of text- and wall-maps in the prepara- 
tion and recitation of lessons ; and from time to time the teacher 
should require the filling in of outline maps, for different epochs, 
showing physical features, towns, battles, boundaries, etc. Un- 



PREFACE V 

localized knowledge in history is nebulous knowledge ; and in 
map work the principle of " learning by doing " is indispensable. 
Excellent outline maps are published by the McKinley Publishing 
Co., Philadelphia. 

4. The memorizing of a mass of unrelated dates is not ad- 
vised, though a sufficient number of dates must be mastered to 
serve as landmarks. Rather exercise the pupils in grasping the 
sequence and other time relations of events, — drilling them, 
for example, in estimating the distance in time between events 
in the same and in different series. 

5. Pictures of historical places, things, and persons greatly 
aid instruction. Collections of these may easily be made from 
old magazines and similar sources,, and should be mounted on 
uniform sheets of cardboard and classified. Older pupils can 
usually assist in the making and keeping of such a collection. 

All this is presented merely as suggestion, not dogmatically. 
If the teacher is really a teacher, knows his subject and loves to 
teach it, like Sentimental Tommy he will surely "find a way." 
The only fair test, for teacher and book alike, is the test by 
results. 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Introduction 1 

Geographical Basis of European History — Sources and Pe- 
riods of History — Review of Ancient History — The Beginning 
of the Middle Ages — The World at the Close of the Eighth 
Century. 

THE HEIGHT OF THE MIDDLE AGES 

Chapter I. The Empire of Charlemagne and its Dissolu- 
tion 27 

Charlemagne's Wars and Government (768-814) — Education and 

Arts under Charlemagne — Dissolution of Charlemagne's Empire. 
Chapter II. Raids and Settlements of the Northmen . 44 

On the Continent — King Alfred and the Northmen in England. 
Chapter III. The Feudal System 53 

Origins — ■ Feudalism as a Working System. 
Chapter IV. The Norman Conquests 68 

The Normans at Home and in Italy — The Norman Conquest 

of England. 
Chapter V. The Medieval Church 79 

Some General Features — -The Church Organization — The 

" Regular " Clergy. 
Chapter VI. Empire and Papacy : The Investiture Conflict 99 

The Revival of the Empire — The Investiture Conflict. 
Chapter VII. Empire and Papacy: Fall of the Hohenstau- 

fens 113 

Guelf and Ghibelline — ■ Frederick Barbarossa, the Papacy, 

and the Italian Communes — Frederick II, and the Fall of the 

Hohenstaufens. 
Chapter VIII. The Crusades . . . . . . . 132 

. The Christian and Mohammedan East — The First Crusade — 

The Conquests Organized — The Later Crusades — Results of . 

the Crusades. 

vi 



CONTENTS vil 

PAGE 

Chapter IX. Life in the Middle Ages 160 

Life of the Nobles — Life of the Peasants — ^Medieval Cities 

and Commerce. 
Chapter X. The Culture of the Middle Ages . . . 188 

Universities and Learning — Heresy and its Suppression — 

Literature and Art — General Character of the Middle Ages. 
Chapter XL England in the Middle Ages .... 211 

The Norman and Plantagenet Kings — ■ The Rise of Parliament. 
Chapter XII. The Growth of France (987-1337) . . .227 

Louis VI and Philip Augustus — -Louis IX (Saint Louis) and 

Philip IV — Accession of the Valois Kings (1328). 



RENAISSANCE AND REFORMATION 

Chapter XIII. The Hundred Years' War (1337-1453) . . 241 
Origin of the War— First Period of the War (1337-1360) — 
Second Period (1369-1380) —Third Period (1415-1453). 

Chapter XIV. European States in the Later Middle Ages 260 
Rise of the Modern State — France and Burgundy — Ger- 
many after the Interregnum — England after the Black Death 
— The Rise of Spain — Fall of the Eastern Empire. 

Chapter XV. The Church in the Fourteenth and Fifteenth 

Centuries . 288 

The Babylonian Captivity and Great Schism — -The Great Church 
Councils — Papal Decline and Local Reforms. 

Chapter XVI. The Italian Cities and the Renaissance . 299 
Italy in the Time of the Renaissance — ■ The Revival of Learn- 
ing — Revival of the Fine Arts — Spread of the Renaissance. 

Chapter XVII. The German Reformation .... 321 
The Reformation Prepared — The Reformation Begun — ■ Spread 
of the Reformation — The Reformation Checked. 

Chapter XVIII. The Reformation in Switzerland and Great 

Britain, and the Counter-Reformation . . . 340 
The Reformation in Switzerland — The Reformation in Great 
Britain — The Counter- Reformation — Summary View of the 
Reformation. 

Chapter XIX. The Period of Religious Wars (1562-1648) . 360 
The Huguenot Wars in France — -The Revolt of the Nether- 
lands — The Thirty Years' War (1618-1648) — Germany and 
Spain after the Religious Wars. 



viii CONTENTS 

THE OLD REGIME AND THE FRENCH REVO- 
LUTION 

PAGE 

Chapter XX. The Age of Louis XIV 383 

The Government of France — Wars of Louis XIV — Social 
Conditions and Culture. 

Chapter XXI. Constitutional Monarchy in England . . 403 
Conflicts between King and Parliament (1603-1642) — -The Great 
Civil War (1642-1649) — -The Commonwealth and Protectorate 
(1649-1660) — The Restored Stuarts and the Revolution of 1688 
— • Strengthening Constitutional Government. 

Chapter XXII. The Rise of Russia and Prussia . . . 431 
Rise of Russia and Decline of Sweden — The Rise of Prussia. 

Chapter XXIII. Widening Area of European Rivalry (1715- 

1789) 443 

Prussia under Frederick the Great — 'The Founding of the British 
Empire — ^The Partitions of Poland. 

Chapter XXIV. The Eve of the French Revolution . . 467 
The Old Regime in Europe — -The Spirit of Reform — ■ Reforms 
of the " Enlightened Despots " — • France on the Eve of the 
Revolution. 

Chapter XXV. The French Revolution (1789-1795) . . 485 
The Estates-General of 1789 — The National Assembly (1789- 
1791) — A Republic Established (1791-1793) — The Reign of 
Terror — The Directory Established. 

Chapter XXVI. The Rise of Napoleon Bonaparte (1795- 

1804) 514 

Early Life and the Italian Campaign — -The Expedition to 
Egypt (1798-1799)— Bonaparte as First Consul (1799-1804) — 
The Empire Established (1804). 

Chapter XXVII. The Napoleonic Empire (1804-1815) . . 527 
Ulm, Austerlitz, and Jena (1803-1807) — Reconstruction of 
Europe by Napoleon — The Peninsular War and the Russian 
Campaign — Downfall of Napoleon — • The Congress of Vienna. 

TPIE AGE OF PROGRESS 

Chapter XXVIII. The Industrial Revolution ' . . . 550 
Changes in Agriculture and Transportation^ The New Inven- 
tions — Factory System, Canals, and Railways — Effects of the 
Industrial Revolution. 



CONTENTS IX 

PAGE 

Chapter XXIX. Political Reaction and the Revolutions 

OF 1830 567 

Europe under Metternich's System — The Restored Bourbons 
in France — The Revolutions of 1830. 

Chapter XXX. France : The Revolution of 1848, the Sec- 
ond French Empire, and the Third Republic . . 578 
The French Revolution of 1848 — Louis Napoleon and the 
Second French Empire — The Third French Republic (to 1900). 

Chapter XXXI. The Austrian Revolution of 1848, and the 

Unification of Italy 601 

The Revolution of 1848 in the Austrian Empire — The Dis- 
union of Italy, and the Revolution of 1848 — The Attainment of 
Italian Unity (1849-1870). 

Chapter XXXII. The Unification of Germany . . . 620 
The Revolution of 1848 in Germany — -Bismarck and the War 
with Austria (1861-1866) — The Franco- Prussian War (1870- 
1871) — ■ The New German Empire. 

Chapter XXXIII. Great Britain in the Nineteenth Cen- 
tury 638 

Political and Social Reforms — Gladstone and Irish Questions 
■ — • The British Constitution — The British Colonial Empire. 

Chapter XXXIV. The Eastern Question and the Partition 

of Africa 675 

Armed Peace among European Powers — The Eastern Ques- 
tion — The Partition of Africa. 

Chapter XXXV. Awakening of the Far East, and the 

Russo-Japanese War 694 

The Awakening of China and Japan — -Russia after the Cri- 
mean War — The Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905). 

Chapter XXXVI. A World in Revolution .... 707 
The Overthrow of Absolute Governments — Changes in the 
States of Continental Europe — - Receni Changes in Great 
Britain — The Hague Peace Conferences and the New Inter- 
nationalism. 

Chapter XXXVII. Science and Social Organization . . 737 
The Advance of Science — -Popular Government and Social 
Justice — The Spread of Socialism. 

APPENDIX : List of Books Suitable for a High School 

Library . 1 

Index 5 



MAPS, ILLUSTRATIONS, AND TABLES 



MAPS 



Physical Map of Europe (col- 
ored) 2, 3 

Roman Empire, 376 a.d., and 
Germanic Migrations {col- 
ored) 14 

Conquests of the Mohamme- 
dans, 632-750 A.D. ... 17 

Growth of the Frankish King- 
dom, 481-814 a.d. ... 20 

The Known World in 800 . 22 

Europe in the Time of Char- 
lemagne (768-814) (colored) 28, 29 

Partition of Verdun (843) . . 40 

England after the Treaty of 
Wedmore (878) .... 49 

Possessions of the Count of 
Champagne (12th Century) 59 

Norman Conquests in Italy . 69 

Mohammedans, Christians, 
and Pagans about 600-814, 
and about 1100 (colored) . . 78 

Medieval Monasteries, Bish- 
oprics, and Archbishoprics 
(colored) 85 

Rome in the Middle Ages . 91 

Holy RomanEmpire in the 10th 
and 11th Centuries (colored) 98 

Territories of the Countess 
Matilda 106 

Lombard and Tuscan Leagues 118 

Europe about the Time of the 
First Crusade (1097) (col- 
ored) 130, 131 

Crusaders' States in Syria . 146 

Saladin's Empire, and Results 
of the Fourth Crusade . . 152 

Medieval Commerce and Tex- 
tile Industries (colored) 180, 181 

Chief Universities of the Mid- 
dle Ages 191 

English Possessions in France, 
1180-1429 (colo?-ed) ... 240 

States of the Empire in 1477 
(colored) 258, 259 

Growth of the Swiss Confed- 
eration 271 

Spanish States, 1266-1492 . 282 

Spread of Printing .... 316 

Extent of the Protestant Move- 
ment in Germany, 1555 . . 335 



Europe in 1556 (colored) 338, 339 
The Netherlands about 1650 . 368 
Territorial Gains in the Peace 

of Westphalia (colo7-ed) . . 377 
France : Acquisitions of Louis 

XIV 388 

Territorial Gains of the War 

of the Spanish Succession . 394 
England in the Civil War 

(1642) 413 

Russia: Conquests of Peter 

the Great 432 

Growth of Brandenburg- 
Prussia 438 

War Districts, 1740-1763 (col- 
ored) 446 

Growth of British Power in 

India 457 

Partitions of Poland .... 464 
Europe in 1789 (colored) 482, 483 
War Districts, 1788-1815 (col- 
ored) 508 

Battle of the Nile .... 519 
Battle of Trafalgar .... 528 
Europe at the Height of Na- 
poleon's Power (1812) . . 535 
Napoleon's Russian Campaign 536 
Movements Leading to Water- 
loo 540 

Europe in 1815 (colored) 544, 545 
Railways of Europe in 1900 . 562 

Suez Canal 586 

The Crimea 589 

Races of Austria-Hungary 

(colored) 602 

Growth of the Italian King- 
dom 612 

German Zollverein, 1834-1854 621 
The Modern German Empire 

(colored) 631 

The British Empire (colored) 

662, 663 

South Africa 666 

Europe after 1878 (colored) . 674 
The Balkan States (1878- 

1886) 679 

Territory Conquered from 

Turkey 684 

Africa in 1913 (colored) . . . 686 
Asia in 1905 (colored) . 692, 693 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



XI 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



Isabella of England Entering 
Paris to visit her Brother 
Charles IV of France Frontispiece 

PAGE 

Great St. Bernard Pass . . 5 

Frankish Chief 19 

Carolingian Warrior .... 21 

Coronation of Charlemagne . 31 

The Emperor Charlemagne . 32 

Signature of Charlemagne . 33 

Cathedral at Aix-la-Chapelle . 37 
Royal Palace of Carolingian 

Times : . . 38 

Roasting on a Spit .... 39 

Remains of a Viking Ship . 45 
Norse Art : Carved Door from 

an Old Church in Iceland . 47 

Anglo-Saxon Plow Team . . 50 
Vassal doing Homage to his 

Lord 54 

Trial by Battle 62 

Warfare in the 12th Century . 63 
Ships of William the Conquer- 
or 72 

Death of Harold 72 

Statue of William the Con- 
queror ....;... 75 



Receiving the Tonsure 

Three Sacraments : Ordina- 
tion, Marriage, Extreme 
Unction .... 

Bishop on Throne 

Benedictine Monk 

Monastery of St. Gall 

Ring Seal of Otto I . 

Seal of Henry III of Germany 

Hildebrand (Gregory VII) . 

Goslar, Birthplace of Henry 
IV 

Pope Gregory VII, Henry 
IV, and Countess Matilda 
at Canossa 

Ruins of Hohenstaufen . . 

Frederick I 

Mail-clad German Horseman . 

Seal of Frederick II ... 

Charles of Anjou invested by 
Clement IV with the Crown 
of the Two Sicilies . . . 

Fountain at Damascus . . . 

Interior of Mosque, Cordova . 



81 



83 

87 

93 

94 

100 

103 

105 

108 



109 
113 
117 
119 

123 



127 
133 
134 



PAGE 

Old Arabian Money .... 135 

Pilgrim 137 

Church of the Holy Sepulcher 138 

Crusader 141 

HurUng Machine 145 

Knight Templar 147 

Fortress of the Knights Hos- 
pitalers in Syria .... 148 
Present View of Acre . . . 150 

Movable Tower 151 

St. Mark's Church, Venice . 153 

Shield of Richard I .... 156 

Castle of Arques 161 

Chateau Gaillard 162 

Falconry 166 

French Noble, 14th Century . 167 
Plan of a Village with Open 

Fields 171 

Plowing, Breaking Clods, Har- 
rowing, Reaping .... 172 
A Medieval Italian Town 

(Siena) 176 

Belfrey of Bruges .... 178 

Venetian Ships 183 

A Medieval Fair 184 

School of the 11th Century . 192 
Seal of Oxford University . 193 
Section of Old St. Peter's . . 202 
Section and Detail of Cathe- 
dral at Amiens 203 

Cathedral at Amiens . 204, 206 

Grotesques on Notre Dame . 205 

Seal of Henry II of England 213 
Battle between Knights in the 

13th Century 217 

Portion of Magna Carta . . 218 

Banner of Simon de Montfort 219 

Seal of Edward I ..... 220 

Seal of Philip Augustus . . 229 

Paris under Philip Augustus . 230 

Cathedral of Notre Dame . . 231 

Statue of Saint Louis . . . 232 

Genoese Crossbowman . . 242 

English Longbowman . . . 243 

Battle of Crecy 245 

The Black Prince .... 247 

Battle of Poitiers 248 

Relief of Orleans by Joan of 

Arc 254 

Entry of Charles VII into 

Paris 255 



Xll 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



PAGE 

Louis XI 263 

Mary of Burgundy .... 264 

Maximilian of Austria . . . 265 

Castle Hapsburg 267 

Town Hall of Frankfort . . 269 

Imperial Arms 270 

John Ball and the Enghsh 

Rebels 274 

London Bridge in the 16th 

Century 275 

JohnWyclif 276 

Mosque of St. Sophia . . . 285 

Papal Palace, Avignon . . . 289 
Pisa : Baptistery, Cathedral, 

and Leaning Tower . . . 290 

Savonarola 296 

Florence about 1490 ... 300 

Dante 304 

Petrarch . 305 

Giotto's Tower 310 

St. Peter's at Rome .... 311 

Michelangelo's The Thinker . 312 

Raphael's Sistine Madonna . 314 

Erasmus 317 

Luther 322 

Wittenberg in 1645 .... 325 
Charles V, Emperor . . . 327 
Luther's Room in the Wart- 
burg 329 

John Calvin 342 

Armor of Henry VIII ... 345 
Great Seal of Queen Elizabeth 348 
Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots 350 
Cross at Monasterbrice, Ire- 
land 351 

Ignatius Loyola 355 

Beginning of the Edict of 

Nantes 363 

Henry IV of France . . . 364 

Richelieu 365 

William the Silent .... 369 
Beginning of the Bohemian 

Revolt . 373 

Musketeer of the Thirty 

Years' War ...... 374 

Gustavus Adolphus .... 374 

Louis XIV 382 

Lettre de Cachet 386 

Soldier of Louis XIV ... 389 
Costume of Nobleman in the 

Time of Louis XIV . . . 397 
Palace and Gardens of Ver- 
sailles 398 



PAGE 

Charles I of England ... 406 
Execution of the Earl of Straf- 
ford 410 

Oliver Cromwell 414 

Woman's Dress in Court of 

Charles II 419 

The Flight of James II . . 423 

Peter the Great 433 

Giant Soldier of Frederick 

WiUiam 440 

Frederick the Great . . . 444 

Maria Theresa 445 

Woman's Dress in Court of 

Louis XV 449 

Voltaire 471 

Rousseau 472 

Turgot 480 

Oath of the Tennis Court . . 487 

Mirabeau 488 

The Bastille (restored) ... 489 
The Jacobin Club . . 496, 497 

Danton 498 

Robespierre 499 

The Guillotine 501 

Bonaparte in 1795 .... 515 

Cross of the Legion of Honor 523 

Throne of Napoleon . . . 524 

Vendome Column, Paris . . 529 

Napoleon as Emperor . . . 530 

Talleyrand 539 

Spinning Wheel 554 

Spinning Jenny 555 

Early Pumping Steam Engine 558 

Early Locomotive . , . . 561 

Metternich 567 

Louis Philippe ..... 575 

Caricature of Louis Philippe . 579 

Napoleon III 585 

Caricature of Napoleon III . 591 

The Louvre and Tuileries . 594 
Facade of the Chamber of 

Deputies, Paris 596 

Kossuth 604 

Parliament Buildings of Hun- 
gary at Budapest .... 606 

Mazzini 608 

Garibaldi 609 

Cavour 610 

Pius IX . 611 

Victor Emmanuel II ... 616 

Bismarck 624 

William I of Germany . . . 627 

Reichstag Building, Berlin . 632 



TABLES OF RULERS xiii 

PAGE PAGE 

William II of Germany . . 634 Young Turks marching on 

Queen Victoria in 1837 . . 640 Constantinople . . ... . 712 

Gladstone 649 Mohammed V returning from 

Queen Victoria in 1897 . . 653 taking the Oath of Office . 713 

Houses of Parliament, West- Dr. Sun Yat Sen 716 

minster, England .... 657 Yuan Shih Kai 717 

Interiorof House of Commons 659 Demonstration by Catholics 

Turkish Soldier, 1877 ... 678 in Paris 722 

Bulgarian Infantry in Trenches Part of the Revolutionary 

before Adrianople (1913) . 683 Forces in Lisbon .... 724 
Uganda Railroad, Africa . . 689 Lloyd George speaking on 

Japanese Soldier 696 Welsh Disestablishment . 730 

Empress Dowager of China . 698 Darwin 738 

Cossack . 702 Zeppelin Airship 742 

Revolutionary Demonstration Aeroplane 743 

in St. Petersburg .... 708 

TABLES OF RULERS 

PAGE 

General Table of Rulers xiv, xv, xvi 

Descendants of Charlemagne .42 

Germany : 

Saxon and Franconian (or Salian) Kings ..... 100 

Houses of Welf and Hohenstaufen ...... 115 

Genealogy of Charles V ....... . 283 

France : 

Direct Capetian Line ........ 227, 237 

House of Valois 237, 363 

Line of Francis I ......... 360 

Relationship of Capetian, Valois, and Bourbon Lines . . . 363 

England: 

Houses of.Lancaster and York 279 

House of Tudor ... 349 

House of Stuart, and Early Hanoverians . . . . . 426 

Later Hanoverians (Descendants of George III) . . . 639 

Spain : 

Genealogy of Emperor Charles V ..... . 283 

Spanish Hapsburgs, and First Spanish Bourbon . . . 392 



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MEDIEVAL AND MODERN HISTORY 

INTRODUCTION 
A. Geographical Basis op European History 

History deals very largely with the civilization and achieve- 
ments of the peoples of Europe. The origins of European civi- 
lization are to be sought in the valleys of the Tigris and i- Europe 
Euphrates rivers in western Asia, and in the valley of modern 
the Nile in northern Africa. This ancient civilization, civilization 
however, continued to develop only when transplanted to 
Europe. India, China, and Japan possess highly developed 
civilizations of their own, but these have had little influence . 
on the West. Modem civilization — with its science, its man- 
ufactures, and its political democracy — is preeminently the 
creation of Europe. It is from that continent, through the 
agency of traders, missionaries, and settlers, that modem cul- 
ture has spread to the other quarters of the globe. 

-One reason for the historical importance of Europe is to be 
found in its geographical advantages. The continent extends 
from about 36° to 71° north latitude, or from about the lati- 2. General 

tude of Cape Hatteras on the Atlantic coast of the United .f^ „l^l ° 
'^ its geog- 

States to that of northernmost Alaska. The climate raphy 
of Europe, however, is much milder than that of the eastern 
parts of North America and of Asia. Its coast line is much 
broken by great gulfs and peninsulas. These divide the land 
into numerous distinct regions, in which could arise independent 
communities, protected by the sea and yet not isolated. The 
surface of the continent is varied by short mountain ranges and 
plains, neither of which have the vastness of those of Asia and 
America. Its rainfall is generally plentiful. The Mediter- 
ranean Sea, with its easily navigable waters, unites it with 



4 INTRODUCTION 

northern Africa and western Asia. In short, the position, 
structure, and climate of Europe all fitted it to receive, develop, 
and spread the ancient civilization which arose in Egypt and 
western Asia. 

The continent of Europe is divided into three distinct parts, 
(i) The southern portion comprises the great peninsulas of 
Greece, Italy, and Spain. It is cut off from the central mass by 
an almost unbroken mountain chain, formed by the Pyrenees, 
the Alps, and their eastern continuations. (2) North of this 
lies a central land mass, stretching east and west across the con- 
tinent, which broadens out in the east to form the great plain 
of Russia. (3) Beyond this lie the British Isles and the Scan- 
dinavian peninsula. These lands are separated from the central 
portion by the English Channel, the North Sea, and the Baltic 
Sea, which is a sort of "secondary Mediterranean." 

The second and third divisions of the continent, especially 

toward the east, are relatively low. They consist principally 

Lavalle, of "naked plains and large lakes, exposed to the freezing 

Physical, influences of Asia and the Arctic Ocean." The first 

and Military division, on the other hand, is protected by mountains 

Geography, 51 from the freezing winds of the north and is warmed and 

freshened by rain-bearing breezes from the Mediterranean. 

It bristles with peaks, is scalloped with gulfs, and is furrowed by 

numerous rivers. It was well fitted to become the seat of the 

earliest development of agriculture, commerce, and organized 

government on the European continent. 

The central mountain system of Europe is the Alps. It is 
divided into two groups, the western Alps and the eastern. 
3. Mountain (^) '^^^ western Alps (the Alps proper) lie in the form of 
systems of an arc of a circle, stretching a distance of 348 miles from 
Europe ^^^ q^^^ ^^ Genoa to Mount St. Goth'ard. They comprise 

three series of parallel ridges, of which the central ridge, with 
an altitude of 9000 to 15,000 feet, is the highest. The western 
(or northern) ridge is the lowest. Mont Blanc (moN blaN'), 
the highest peak of the Alps (15,781 feet), is the loftiest moun- 
tain in Europe ; it is higher than any mountain in the United 



GEOGRAPHICAL BASIS OF EUROPEAN HISTORY 5 

States, excluding Alaska. Because the western and northern 
slopes are more gradual, the Alps are more easily passable by an 
army coming from the west or north into Italy than from Italy 
into France or Germany. The chief passes in the western 
Alps are the Simplon Pass, over which Napoleon Bonaparte 
constructed an admirable road at the beginning of the nine- 
teenth century ; the Great St. Bernard', which in spite of its 




Great St. Bernard Pass 

The building is the Hospice, where for many centuries devoted monks have cared 
for storm-bound travelers, sometimes rescued by the famous St. Bernard dogs 

difficulties was used successively by Charlemagne (sharle-man), 
the Emperor Frederick I, and Napoleon; and the Mont 
Cenis (moN se-ne'), which was long the favorite pass for trav- 
elers going from France into Italy. (2) The eastern Alps 
stretch from Mount St. Gothard to the Adriatic Sea, and are 
continued along its eastern coast. Their altitudes are lower 
than those of the western Alps, and decline as they approach the 
Adriatic. The chief route over these mountains is the Brenner 
Pass. Because it is the lowest pass over the principal chain, 
it has been used continuously since the Roman period, and in 
the Middle Ages was the great route from Italy to Germany. 



6 INTRODUCTION 

It is important to fix in mind, the location of the chief mountain 
passes, together with the river valleys leading to and from 
them.^ For centuries they constituted almost the only practi- 
cable routes for armies, envoys, pilgrims, and traders, between 
northern Europe and the fertile plains and rich cities of Italy. 

In almost every direction offshoots radiate from the central 
mountain mass of the Alps. To the south extend the Apen- 
nines, forming the Italian peninsula. To the west are the Ce- 
vennes (sa-ven') of southern France. To the north appear the 
Jura, the Vosges (vozh) , the Black Forest, and other mountains 
of upper Germany. To the northeast lie the mountains which 
inclose Bohemia, and the sweeping arc, 700 miles long, of the 
Carpathian Mountains. To the southeast are the wild and pre- 
cipitous heights of the Balkans, and the mountains forming 
the Grecian peninsula. Only a few groups of mountains in 
Europe are unconnected with this central mass. The chief 
of these are the Pyrenees, which form a solid rampart between 
France and the Spanish peninsula, passable for armies at the 
eastern and western ends only. The Scandinavian mountains, 
the Scottish Highlands, the Urals, and the lofty Caucasus ridge, 
are of little historical importance. 

Three important rivers rise in the neighborhood of Mount 
St. Gothard, flow in different directions, and empty into widely 
4. River separated seas. (i) The Rhine, after traversing a course of 
systems of 850 miles, empties into the North Sea. Its chief tributa- 
""^^ ries are the Moselle (mo-zel') and the Main. The Meuse 

(or Maas), which flows into its delta, is also practically a tribu- 
tary of the Rhine. (2) The Rhone, with the Saone (son) as 
tributary, flows into the western Mediterranean. (3) The Po, 
which drains the northern plain of Italy, empties into the 
Adriatic Sea. The Danube River, with a length of 1600 miles, 
ranks in historical importance with the Rhine, near whose 
source it rises. The Rhine and Danube together form an al- 

' In recent years railway tunnels have been driven through the Alps. The Mont 
Cenis tunnel, 7H miles long, was completed in 1871; the St. Gothard, 9% miles, 
in 1881 ; the Arlberg, 6% miles, in 1884; and the Simplon, 12J4 miles, in 1905. 



THE SOURCES AND PERIODS OF HISTORY 7 

most continuous water route stretching across Europe from 
the North Sea to the Black Sea. Additional streams of im- 
portance are the Garonne (ga-ron'), the Loire (Iwar), and the 
Seine (san) , in France ; and the Elbe, the Oder, and the Vis' tula, 
in Germany. The Volga, with its length of 2100 miles, is 
geographically the most important river of- Europe ; but his- 
torically it counts for little, because of its location in the vast 
plains of eastern Russia. 

The tendency of mountains is to separate neighboring peoples ; 
of rivers, to unite them. Physical geography, then, would 
divide Europe into the following sections : Spain, France 5- Geo- 
(or Gaul) to the Cevennes Moimtains, the British Isles, ^^^ j^* 
the Rhone-land, the Rhine-land, Italy, the Balkan-land, Europe 
the Danube-land, North Germany, Bohemia, Russia, and 
Scandinavia. Each of these twelve regions has had its separate 
history. Modern political divisions to-day follow this grouping 
with sufi&cient closeness to show the abiding influence of physical 
geography upon history. 

B. The Sources and Periods of History 

The information concerning the past which is contained in 
books on history is all derived from various historical "sources" 
which have come down to us. The extent and character g ^j^^ 
of these sources determine in large part whether our in- " sources ' 
formation shall be full and trustworthy, or scanty and un- ^story 
trustworthy. In general we may say that all historical knowl- 
edge is based on the three following classes of sources : — 

(i) Material remains, such as buildings, roads, monuments, 
ruins, coins, old weapons and tools, household furniture and 
utensils, armor, clothing, etc. 

(2) Official documents, and other writings, including descrip- 
tions of events by eye- and ear-witnesses. In this class should 
also be placed photographs of persons and events, and pictorial 
representations of them by persons who were in a position per- 
gonally to know the facts. 



8 INTRODUCTION 

(3) Oral and written traditions, which come to us from persons 
who were not in a position to know the facts at first hand, but 
who give us information which they received from others. 

No matter how important an event may have been, if no 
trace of it has been left in one or another of these ways, we 
can have no knowledge of it. For the Middle Ages our sources, 
aside from material remains, consist chiefly of the follow- 
ing: ''Annals" and "chronicles," in which men (usually 
monks) wrote down brief accounts of the events of their 
times ; decrees of rulers and other collections of laws ; charters 
conveying grants of lands and privileges; a few letters of 
kings, Popes, and other eminent men; lives of saints and 
other persons, written at that time; and account books 
and records of governments, monasteries, and individual land- 
lords. For Modern History there is an ever increasing flood 
of parliamentary and congressional debates, statutes, memoirs 
and letters of statesmen and other persons, diaries, daily news- 
papers, etc. 

In the use of these sources great care must be taken. We 
must determine (i) that each is what it seems to be, and (2) 
that its author was both in a position to know the facts, and 
that he had no interest in deceiving us. A slow and careful 
process of sifting and comparison is necessary to separate the 
truth from falsehood and error. It is not surprising that — 
as new materials are discovered and made available and more 
careful study is given to the old — many views which were 
formerly held are shown to be unfounded, and new ones take 
their place. 

In considering the division of history into periods, we should 

remember that the development of human society has been 

7. Division ^ continuous process. History may be thought of as a 

of history ceaselessly flowing stream, ever widening and deepening 

peno s -^g course. For convenience of ^tudy, we divide history 

into more or less artificial periods. Two facts, however, should 

be borne in mind in this connection. First, changes in history, 

like changes of the seasons, are gradual, each period merging 



THE SOURCES AND PERIODS OF HISTORY 9 

into the next as imperceptibly as winter into spring. Second, 
progress does not take place with equal rapidity in all fields. 
Now artistic activity, now scientific thought, now industrial 
development, now political organization, forges ahead, while 
other activities lag behind. Now one nation leads, now another. 
It is difficult, therefore, to find dates as division points which 
mark important changes in all these various fields, just as it is 
difficult to divide a man's life exactly into periods of childhood, 
youth, manhood, and old age. Nevertheless the divisions mark 
real and important differences, and for practical purposes they 
are necessary. 

The term "Middle Ages" is used to cover the whole period 
from the beginning of the invasions of the Roman Empire by the 
Germans, about 376 a.d., to the beginning of the Protestant g. Scope of 
Reformation in the sixteenth century. In reality three *^^ ^°°^ 
distinct epochs are comprised in this period, (i) From about 
376 to about 800 was an epoch of transition, to which the term 
"the Dark Age" may perhaps be applied. This was the time 
when . the invading Germans and the subjects of the Roman 
Empire were being fused into one people ; and when the remains 
of Greek and Roman civilization, the institutions of the Ger- 
manic barbarians, and Christianity were combining to form the 
culture of medieval Europe. (2) The Middle Age proper began 
with the revival of the Western Empire by Charlemagne (800) 
and lasted till about 1300. It was the age of feudalism, of the 
supremacy of the church in human affairs, of great struggles 
between Popes and Emperors. (3) The third division was also 
an epoch of transition, lasting from about 1300 to about 1500. 
It was the time of the Renaissance (ren-e-saNs') , or "rebirth," 
— when men began to think more freely, and when state, 
church', art, literature, industry, and society took on new forms. 
The first of these divisions (376-800) is usually included in 
high school textbooks dealing with ancient history, and is only 
briefly dealt with here. The second and third divisions of the 
Middle Ages, together with the whole period of Modern 
History, form the theme of this book. 



lO INTRODUCTION 

C. Review op Ancient History 

Fifty years ago practically every one believed that the earth, 
with all the life upon it, was created not more than five or six 

9. Short thousand years ago. About the middle of the nineteenth 
recorded °^ century began a series of scientific discoveries which have 
history forced upon us a revision of this opinion. It is now 

generally held by scientists that the world has come to its 

present form by a gradual process of evolution, extending through 

millions and millions of years, and that men have lived upon 

the earth for about 100,000 years. An illustration given by 

Robinson ^ recent historian will help us to form some conception 

and Beard, of the extent of time which has elapsed since the forma- 

ofWestTm^ tion of the earth, as compared with the shortness of 

Europe,!!, the recorded history of man. "Let us imagine," says 

^°^ this writer, "a record having been kept during the past 

fifty million years, in which but a single page should be devoted 

to the chief changes occurring during each successive five 

thousand years. This mighty journal would now amount to 

ten volumes of a thousand pages each, and scarcely more than 

the last page — Volume X, page 1000 — would be assigned to 

the whole recorded history of the world from the earliest 

Assyrian and Egyptian inscriptions to the present day." 

Modern scientists have shown that the earliest men were in 
the lowest stage of savagery; they lived largely in the tree 

10. Savage ^*^P^ °^ tropical forests, ate uncooked fruits and vegetables, 
and barba- and had no knowledge of even the rudest tools or weapons. 
nan s ages j^ ^^^ mainly through three great discoveries or inventions 

that man made his slow and painful advance from savagery to 
barbarism. Fire made it possible for him to move from the 
tropics to the more healthful and invigorating climates of the 
temperate zones, and also enabled him to use for food many 
substances which without cooking were unwholesome. The 
how and arrow enabled him better to defend himself against 
enemies, and to kill the fleetest and strongest animals of the 
forest, to provide himself with food and with skins for clothing. 



REVIEW OF ANCIENT HISTORY II 

The art of pottery-making gave him vessels in which food could 
be boiled, thus making possible further enlargements of his 
food supply. It also gave him receptacles in which articles of 
all kinds could be safely stored. 

In the barbarian stage came the taming of the dog, sheep, ox, 
camel, and horse, giving man a more certain food supply, and 
enabling him better to cultivate the soil. It then became possible 
to settle down in fixed localities, to practice agriculture more 
extensively, to develop a system of irrigation, and to build 
houses and temples of brick and of stone. These advances were 
followed by the discovery of a method of smelting iron ore 
and extracting that metal, thereby making possible great im- 
provements in man's tools and weapons. 

The step which led men from barbarism to civilization, and 
which has made the progress of the later centuries so much more 
rapid than that of the earlier, was the invention of the art ^^ jj^g •^^_ 
of writing. By this means the knowledge gained in the vention of 
past could be handed on to future generations, and be ^" *°^ 
spread among men of widely distant lands. This invention was 
made at least 7000 years ago by the Egyptians and the Baby- 
lonians. It is only with this event, strictly speaking, that his- 
tory begins ; for history is the knowledge that we have, or can 
have, of man's life in the past, especially as it was lived in society 
with other men. 

In the valleys of the Nile and Euphrates other great advances 
were made which contributed to that complex whole which we 
call civilization. The arts of weaving, pottery-making, j^. Rise of 
and metal-working reached so advanced a stage that oriental 
little further improvement was made until modern times. "^ ^^^ °° 
Huge buildings of brick and stone were erected which still awe 
the traveler with their massiveness ; methods of agriculture were 
improved ; roads and canals were built ; beginnings were made 
in the sciences of mathematics and astronomy ; organized govern- 
ments were established over great areas; and impressive re- 
ligious systems were developed. By conquest and commerce, 
this civilization was spread far and wide through the lands 



12 INTRODUCTION 

bordering on the eastern portion of the Mediterranean Sea. 
Hebrew civilization, with its lofty monotheistic religion, was 
an eddy by the side of this main stream. 

Greece, because of its location, was naturally the first of 

European lands to receive the stimulus and benefits of oriental 

13. Ancient Culture. But though the Greeks learned their first 

Greece and lessons from the peoples of the East, they went far beyond 

their teachers. Especially was this true in those things 

which contribute to higher intellectual and spiritual life; for 

the Greeks established freer governments, developed science and 

philosophy, and produced works of art and of literature that 

have never been surpassed. 

The Romans in their turn profited by the achievements of 
the Greeks, and added contributions of their own through their 
genius for conquest, government, and law. In the course of 
three centuries successive conquests brought under Roman 
sway all the lands about the Mediterranean Sea, and as far 
north as the German forests. This vast extent of territory 
proved too great to be ruled by one imperial city. It was the 
work of Julius Caesar and of his grandnephew Augustus to 
transform the government by establishing the Roman Empire 
— one of the greatest governments that the world has ever 
seen. 

For two hundred years — from the accession of the Emperor 
Augustus to the death of Marcus Aure'lius (31 B.C. to 180 a.d.) 
— the Roman Empire prospered. It gave unity of government, 
of law, of language, and of culture to the whole Mediterranean 
world. It carried the beginnings of civilization even to the bar- 
barians beyond its frontiers. Christianity arose within this 
empire ; and the fact that all these lands were under one rule 
made it easier for a universal (Catholic) Christian Church to 
be organized, and to spread abroad its message of a more 
spiritual religion and of nobler living. 

The period from the death of Marcus Aurelius to the acces- 
sion of Diocle'tian (180-284 a.d.), was one of civil war and decay. 
The decline was temporarily checked by a reorganization of 



THE BEGINNING OF THE MIDDLE AGES 13 

the government whereby the empire was divided into an 
eastern and a western half (regularly after 395). At 14, Decay 
the same time the government was made entirely des- °^ *^® ^°" 
potic, and the capital was removed to Constantmople. pjre (180- 
Under Constantine the Great (died 337) came the end of 375 a.d.) 
the persecutions of the Christians, and the recognition of 
Christianity as the official religion of the state. 

But these changes could not check the Roman decay, for it 
was due to deep-seated and long-existing causes. Among these 
causes we may note the following : (i) A great decrease in popu- 
lation, caused by famines, wars, and pestilence. (2) Unwise 
methods of taxation, which destroyed the middle classes, and 
fixed men in their stations and occupations, as in hereditary 
castes. (3) Free peasants gradually became serfs, bound to 
the soil, while slaves rose in the social scale and blended with 
the depressed freemen. (4) There was a physical and moral 
decline of the Romans, due to the effects of long-continued war, 
to luxurious living, and to enervating habits in peace. (5) 
Christianity drew the best men into the service of the church, 
and turned their attention from the problems of this world to 
winning salvation in the next. (6) A lack of national feeling 
resulted from the despotism of the government, and the general 
employment of German barbarians in the army. 

As a result of the growing weakness due to these causes a time 
came when Rome was no longer able to withstand the nations 
who pressed upon her borders from without. Then the mighty 
fabric of her empire was soon laid in ruins. 

D. The Beginning oe the Middle Ages 

The chief cause of Rome's fall was its internal weakness, but 
the occasion came with the entrance into the empire, at the 
end of the fourth century, of whole nations of Ger- 15- Inva- 
manic barbarians. The Vis'igoths, when attacked in Qgrmans* * 
the rear by Huns from central Asia, were allowed to (376-476) 
cross the Danube frontier into Roman territory. At Adrian- 



THE BEGINNING OF THE MIDDLE AGES 15 

ople, in the year 378, they then overthrew and slew the Em- 
peror Valens. Under their young king, Al'aric, they ravaged 
Greece, overran Italy, and sacked Rome (410). Under Alaric's 
successors they established a Germanic kingdom in Spain and 
southern Gaul, which lasted for three centuries (to 711). The 
example set by the Visigoths was speedily followed by other 
nations. The Vandals overran Gaul and Spain ; then, upon the 
coming of the Visigoths to the latter land, they passed over 
into Africa (429), where they ruled for a hundred and five years. 
The Franks, who were settled about the lower Rhine, gradu- 
ally occupied northern Gaul. The Burgundians, passing from 
the middle Rhine to the Rhone valley, established there a king- 
dom which lasted until 534. The Angles and Saxons, invading 
Britain in their piratical vessels (about 449), established king- 
doms which later consolidated into the kingdom of England 
(Angle-land). In 451 the savage Huns extended their raids 
into the heart of Gaul, but were turned back by the united 
efforts of Romans and Visigoths. The death two years later 
of their leader At'tila, "the Scourge of God," released Europe 
for a time from the dread of Asiatic rule. 

At Rome the last of a line of weak and foolish Emperors of 
the West came to an end in 476. Odoa'cer, the leader of the 
German mercenaries in the Roman army, then assumed 16. End of 
the title of "king." He sent ambassadors to lay at the ^^y^ggt^ 
feet of the Eastern Emperor, at Constantinople, the im- (476) 
perial crown and purple robe, professing that one Emperor was 
enough for both East and West. For some years Odoacer 
enjoyed his "kingdom" over Italy in peace. In 493, how- 
ever, he was defeated and murdered by Theod'oric the Great, 
king of the Os'trogoths, who had come into Italy with 
the Eastern Emperor's consent to overthrow the usurper. 
Theodoric had been brought up, as a youth, at Constantinople ; 
he now proved to be one of the greatest of the barbarian kings. 
He made many wise plans for the permanent union of his Ostro- 
goths with the Romans into a great kingdom. But the Romans 
held the orthodox Christian belief, while the Ostrogoths, in 



1 6 INTRODUCTION 

common with most of the German barbarians, had been con- 
verted to A'rianism, an heretical form of Christianity. Heresy, 
or the holding of religious opinions condemned by the church, 
was regarded throughout the Middle Ages as a sin. Heretics, 
therefore, were bitterly hated by the orthodox. As a result 
of this religious antagonism between Romans and Ostrogoths, 
Theodoric was unable permanently to unite the two peoples. 

The Emperor Justinian came to the throne at Constantinople 
in 527 (the year following the death of Theodoric) and ruled 
17. Eastern until 565. He greatly strengthened the Eastern Empire 
der^Tut ""' ^^^ ^^^^ profoundly influenced the West, (i) His generals 
tinian (527- drove out the Ostrogoths from Italy and the Vandals 
S^S^ from Africa, and recovered those lands temporarily for 

the Roman Empire. (2) He was a great builder, and filled every 
corner, of his empire with forts, churches, monasteries, hospitals, 
and aqueducts. The most splendid of his buildings was the 
great cathedral of St. Sophia, which is still one of the sights of 
Constantinople. (3) He caused the provisions of the Roman 
law on every subject to be sought out and arranged in a series 
of systematic works, called the Code, the Digest, and the In- 
stitutes. The Code is a collection of the decrees of the Emperors ; 
the Digest contains the opinions of the expert lawyers or judges 
who had interpreted these decrees ; and the Institutes is a text- 
book, giving the principles of the law in a simplified form for 
the use of students. The importance of these collections is 
very great. The most powerful influence of Rome on the modern 
world has been through its law ; and it was the work of Justinian, 
in collecting and systematizing the law, that put it in shape to 
be preserved and handed down to later times. To-day Roman 
law is the basis of the legal systems of most of the countries of 
Europe,, and of one of the American States (Louisiana). Some 
one has said that Roman law is "crystallized reason," because 
it is so clear and practical in its applications. The fact that its 
provisions can still be applied in spite of the enormous changes 
in society which have taken place since Roman times, is testi- 
mony to the justice of this characterization. One principle 



THE BEGINNING OF THE MIDDLE AGES 



17 



of the Roman law is contained in the famous maxim, "All men 
are created equal," which played so important a part in both 
the American and the French revolutions. Another principle 
was that "what pleases the prince has the force of law." If 
the former passage could be used as an argument in favor of 
liberty, the latter could be used by kings and other rulers of the 
later Middle Ages in support of their attempts to overthrow 
the power of the nobles and build up absolute monarchies. 

The beginning of the seventh century saw the rise of a new 
religion and a new political power. This was due to the teach- 
ings of Mohammed (571-632), an Arab who claimed to jg. Rise of 
be divinely inspired. He united the Arabs, rescued Mohamme- 
them from the worship of sticks and stones, and taught ^^^^ 
them that there was but one true God (Allah), of whom he 
(Mohammed) was the Prophet. The teaching of Mohammed 




6 ' 2i'h) ' mi ' <i?H> 



Conquests of the Mohammedans 

was embodied in a book called the Koran'. It contains also 
Jewish, Christian, and Persian elements. For example, the 
Hebrew patriarchs and prophets, including Christ, were ac- 
cepted by Mohammed as messengers from God ; but Mohammed 
declared himself the last and the greatest of these. Along with 
many good and noble ideas in his religion were mixed baser 
elements, arising out of the ignorance, cruelty, and superstition 
of that time. Mohammedanism became one of the great 
world religions, and to-day numbers among its adherents about 
one seventh of the earth's population. By the year 632 all 
Arabia had accepted Mohammed's teaching. Fanatical zeal 



1 8 ' INTRODUCTION 

and lust of rule then urged on a movement of foreign con- 
quest such as the world had never seen. In eighty years 
Mohammedanism conquered more territory than Rome con- 
quered in four centuries. Syria, Persia, Egypt, northern 
Africa, and Spain all passed under the rule of the caliphs, or 
successors of Mohammed. A vast empire was thus created, 
the head of which was both the religious and the political ruler 
of his people. 

Further transformations, meanwhile, were taking place in 
Italy and adjacent lands. Within fifteen years after the ex- 

19. The pulsion of the Ostrogoths, a new Germanic people, the 
occupy Raly LOMBARDS, appeared in Italy to take their place. They' 
(568) conquered the valley of the Po (Lombardy), to which their 

name is still given. Soon they possessed most, but not all, of 
the peninsula. Officers of the Eastern Emperors continued to 
rule a district called the Exarchate (ex'ar-kat) of Ravenna, near 
the mouth of the river Po, together with the district about 
Rome, and the extreme southern parts of the peninsula. The 
Lombards were among the most barbarous of the Germanic 
nations, and they were long viewed by the Romans with the 
fiercest hatred and loathing, even after they put aside their 
Arianism and accepted Catholic Christianity. 

One important result of their coming was that it helped the 
Pope — that is, the bishop of Rome — to secure temporal power 

20. Rise of ^^ Italy. For several centuries the spiritual headship of 
papal power the bishop of Rome over the church had been recog- 
C590-751; nized, especially in the West; but so far, equally with 

other bishops, he had been under the rule of the Emperor. The 
Eastern Emperors, however, were distant from Italy, and their 
officers (the exarchs) were too weak to resist the Lombards. 
The exarchs shut themselves up in Ravenna and failed to give 
to Rome the protection and aid which it required. In these 
circumstances a Pope of commanding character and ability, 
named Gregory the Great (590-604), came into power. He 
made himself practically the ruler of Rome, by defending it 
against repeated attacks of the Lombards and feeding its starv- 



THE BEGINNING OF THE MIDDLE AGES 



19 



ing people. A century after the death of Gregory, his suc- 
cessors broke all connection with the Eastern Empire.- The 
occasion for this was a dispute about the reverencing of images 
in the church (Iconoclastic controversy). The danger of this 
separation lay in the opportunity that it gave the Lombards 
to extend their rule in Italy. Again and again these barbarians 
laid siege both to the city of Rome and 
to Ravenna. It seemed as if the papacy 
had escaped the rule of the Eastern 
Emperor only to fall under that of the 
Lombard king. To avoid this fate, the 
Pope resolved to ask aid from another 
Germanic people, the most notable of 
all — the Franks, who had invaded 
Gaul. 

Of all the barbarians who pressed into 
the continental provinces of Rome, only 
the Franks established an enduring p. ^ 
kingdom. For several centuries, the Franks 
therefore, the. history of the Frank- (481-768) 
ish power makes the largest part of the 
history of Europe. Clovis (481-511) laid 
the basis of this power by consolidating 
the Franks under one rule, and con- 
quering neighboring peoples. The fact 
that Clovis became an orthodox Christian 
was also of importance. Within fifty years after his death, 
most of Gaul, together with the Rhine valley, was under 
Frankish sway. Many of Clovis's descendants proved to be 
weak rulers; and the broils and feuds of the nobles, the 
quarrels and lawlessness of the freemen, produced great dis- 
order. In spite of these evils, and in spite of frequent divi- 
sions of the territory among the sons of deceased kings, the 
power of the Franks as a people did not decline. Under the 
later descendants of Clovis, — the "do-nothing" Merovingian 
kings, — officers styled "Mayors of the Palace" came to exer- 




Frankish Chief 



20 



INTRODUCTION 



cise the real power of the kingdom. Soon this office became 
practically hereditary in the powerful family of the Pep'ins 
(Carolin'gians), who possessed wide estates and numerous fol- 
lowers. The power of this family was greatly increased by a 
notable victory which its head, Charles Martel' ("the Ham- 
mer"), won in 732. A great army of Mohammedans from 



Territory of the FnmkB 481 

Conquests of Clovis 481-011 

to 561 

^m " 714-708 

|:;::->::l ''* of Charlemagne b8 i 

\^^\:)\:^ States tributary to Cbarlen igne 

SCALE OF MILES 




Growth or the Frankish Kingdom 



Spain had invaded Gaul, and it was only after a desperate all- 
day conflict near the city of Tours (toor), that they were de- 
feated and forced to retreat.^ 



1 "For seven days the two Worlds, the two Faiths, stood face to face. The 
horsemen of Asia, with their tawny skins and white turbans, wheeling amid clouds 
of dust around the Frankish hosts, scanned with surprise the fair-skinned shaggy 
giants who had come down to do battle for Europe against her hitherto irresist- 
ible enemy. On a Sunday morning the decisive conflict began. It was terrible, 
though scarcely contested upon equal terms. The wild riders of the desert dashed 



THE BEGINNING OF THE MIDDLE AGES 



21 



In spite of the renown gained through this victory, Charles 
Martel did not dare to make himself king of the Franks in name, 
as well as in fact. This step Charles's son, Pepin the Short, 22. Alliance 
determined to take, and in 751 he sent to the Pope to ask ^^j^h^the^ 
his- sanction. The Pope, who had appealed in vain to papacy 
Charles Martel for aid against the Lombards, was willing to 
gratify Pepin, in the hope of receiving the much-needed support. 
He replied to the Prankish envoys that 
"the man who actually held the power in 
the kingdom should be called king, rather 
than he who falsely bore that name." 
With this warrant from the Pope, and 
with the approval of the Prankish chiefs, 
the last of the Merovingian kings was 
deposed, and thrust into a monastery. 
Pepin was then raised upon a shield and 
hailed as king in his stead. 

At the Pope's request, Pepin marched 
twice into Italy against the Lombards, 
who by this time had taken Ravenna. 
On his second expedition, Pepin forced 
the Lombard king to give hostages and 
pay tribute. The city and district of 
Ravenna, which the Lombards had taken 
from the exarch, were surrendered, and 
given by Pepin to the Pope. The addi- 
tion of this territory to the power which 
the papacy had secured at Rome made the Pope an important 
temporal prince. Pepin's grant was also of importance in 

hour after hour in ceaseless charges against the solidly compacted infantry of 
the North; they came on Hke the leaping waves of the ocean, to be scattered 
backward like its spray. The folds of the eastern turban afforded slight protection 
against the huge mass of iron which the stalwart arms of the Prankish veterans plied 
with terrible effect against their heads; and while the scimiters of Damascus glanced 
harmlessly from the stout helmets of steel and the thick leather corslets of the Franks, 
the long blades of the North cleft through bones and muscle, almost severing in 
two the wiry frames of the Arab and the Moor." — Sheppard, The Fall of Rome, 479 
(condensed). 




Caeolingian Warrior 

From Musee d'Artillerie, 

Paris 



22 



INTRODUCTION 



cementing a close connection between the papacy and the 
Frankish monarchy, which proved of great importance to 
each. 

E. The World at the Close of the Eighth Century 

It remains, in concluding this introduction to medieval his- 
tory, (i) to glance at the religious and political map of Europe 
23. Changes in the latter part of the eighth century, and (2) to take 

in the re- stock of the racial and institutional elements which were 
ligious and . . ^ r • r t i t-i 

political entermg mto the formation 01 medieval Europe. 

™8P The world known to the people of Europe in the year 

800 was only that small part of the earth's surface shown on 
the accompanying map. America and Australia were as yet 

undiscovered. Of 
Africa, the Mediter- 
ranean region alone 
was known. What 
knowledge there was 
of the more distant 
parts of Asia came 
only through vague 
Greek and Roman 
reports and the west- 
ward raids of Huns 
and other Asiatic bar- 
barians. Within this 
small world the greatest extent of territory was held by the 
Mohammedans, whose lands stretched from the Strait of Gi- 
braltar in the west to India and the steppes of Central Asia in 
the east. The area occupied by Christians included only west- 
ern and southern Europe (with the exception of Spain), and 
Asia Minor. The northeastern part of Europe was still in the 
darkness of heathenism. 

By the end of the eighth century the invasions were practi- 
cally over. Germanic peoples now occupied most of the terri- 
tory in western Europe once included within the boundaries 




The Known World in 800 



THE WORLD IN 800 23 

of the Roman Empire. By comparing the map showing the 
boundaries of the Roman Empire at the beginning of the mi- 
grations (p. 14) with that of Charlemagne's empire (pp. 28-29), 
we can see how great a shifting of populations and boundaries 
had taken place in these four centuries of invasion and conquest.^ 
The Byzan'tine or Eastern Roman Empire still ruled Asia Minor, 
Thrace, portions of ancient Greece and southern Italy, and the 
islands of Crete, Sicily, and Sardinia. The Bulgarians (an 
Asiatic people) had cut off the lower valley of the Danube, and 
barbarian Slavs formed an alien wedge running through the 
interior of the Balkan peninsula and into the Peloponnesus. 
On the middle course of the Danube dwelt the Avars (aVarz), 
a Tartar tribe from Asia. North of these were Slavic peoples, 
and still farther north were the Finns. All of these peoples 
were still heathen ; and the slow progress of Christianity among 
them was one of the features of the Middle Ages. Scandinavia 
was taking on its threefold form of Norway, Denmark, and 
Sweden ; but the worship there of the old Teutonic gods, Woden 
and Thor, was as yet unshaken. In the British Isles, the Angles 
and Saxons (as we shall see) had been Christianized, and were 
about to unite into a single kingdom. Scotland, Ireland, and 
Wales, though Christian, were independent Celtic lands. In 
northern Spain there existed petty Christian states which in 
the next seven centuries were to grow into a powerful monarchy 
and cast out the Mohammedans. The central political fact 
in the West was the existence of the Prankish kingdom, as re- 
established and strengthened by Charles Martel and Pepin 
the Short. 
These sweeping changes in the map were not accomplished 

without the destruction of much of that classical civi- ^, t, , 

24. Retro 

lization of Greece and Rome which had been building for spect and 
a thousand years. To use the comparison of a modern his- P'^^^p®'^* 
torian, the situation was similar to that which would be created 

1 Excepting the additions to the Prankish territory made by Charlemagne (see 
page 20), thfc locations of peoples and states in 800 were practically those given in 
the map for Charlemagne's reign. 



24 INTRODUCTION 

if bands of Indian warriors should take possession of a civilized 
land. They would see about them on every hand a thousand 
things which they could not understand or use. So it was 
Adams, Civ- with the Germans in the civilized lands of the Roman 
'^''^^'^th'^M'T' Empire. They were unaccustomed to city life, and a 
die A Res, 8-9 great part of Roman institutions and Roman civilization 
was either useless to them or unappreciated. The surprising 
thing is not that the Germans destroyed so much of what they 
found in the Roman Empire, but that under the circumstances 
they destroyed so little. Art, science, knowledge of the Greek 
language and of much of the Latin literature, skill in handi- 
crafts, and the machinery of orderly government, were over- 
whelmed. The whole western world fell back to a lower stage 
of civilization than under Roman rule. 

But the loss was only temporary, and was made good by 
ultimate recovery. We may indeed say that ''almost, if not 
quite, every achievement of the Greeks and Romans in thought, 
in science, in law, in the practical arts, is now a part of our 
civilization." It was the work of the Middle Ages to raise 
the Germanic barbarians to the level of civilization attained by 
the ancient world, and at the same time to subject them to 
the influence of the Christian religion. In the making of medi- 
eval civilization, therefore, three factors should be noted: 
(i) The classical civilization, which has already been described. 
(2) The Christian religion, with its principles of monotheism, 
personal immortality, the brotherhood of man, and its lofty 
ethical ideals. (3) The Germans themselves — a fresh, vigor- 
ous race, with a remarkable ability for adapting themselves 
to new conditions and for assimilating a higher culture. The 
Germans imparted to the enfeebled stocks of the Roman world 
their own youthful energy and vigor. They also brought with 
them certain ideas and political institutions which have con- 
tributed in large degree to the development of modern free 
governments. The most important of these were the idea of 
personal independence, a strong sense of the value of the in- 
dividual as compared with the state, the practice of holding 



THE WORLD IN 800 25 

public assemblies, and government by a monarch chosen by 
and responsible to the people. 

It was in the so-called Dark Age, the history of which we 
have been surveying, that these three elements — the classical, 
the Christian, and the German — were first blended to form 
medieval civilization. This in turn was to grow and expand 
into the modern Christian civilization, now spread over the 
greater part of the whole earth. 

IMPORTANT DATES 

376. Visigoths enter the Roman Empire. 

410. Rome sacked by Alaric. 

449. Angles and Saxons invade Britain. 

451. Huns defeated in Gaul. 

476. Odoacer overthrows the Western Empire. 

481-5 1 1. Clovis king of the Franks. 

493. Theodoric the Ostrogoth conquers Italy. 

527-565. Justinian ruler of the Eastern Empire. 

568. Lombards settle in Italy. 

632. Death of Mohammed. 

732. Battle of Tours. 

751. Pepin the Short becomes king of the Franks. 

768. Charlemagne becomes king of the Franks. 

TOPICS AND REFERENCES 

Suggestive Topics. — (i) Why do mountains tend to separate and rivers 
to unite adjacent peoples? (2) What geographical advantages has Europe 
over Asia ? Over Africa ? (3) Why was Europe not so well fitted to orig- 
inate as to develop and spread civilization ? (4) In what ways would its 
history have been different if Europe were entirely surrounded by water ? 
(5) Why is our knowledge of history less certain than our knowledge of the 
natural sciences ? (6) What precautions should be exercised in using news- 
papers as materials for history? (7) Why is the term "Middle Ages" 
plural ? (8) Summarize the causes of the fall of the Roman Empire. (9) 
Has Mohammedanism done more harm or good in the world ? (10) What 
things aided the Pope to become head of the church? (11) Why did the 
Frankish kingdom prove more permanent than the other barbarian king- 
doms on the Continent? (12) What advantages did the Pope gain from 
alliance with the Franks? What advantages did the Franks gain? (13) 
Compare the area of Christianity in 800 with its area to-day. (14) Make a 



26 INTRODUCTION 

table to show the wanderings of the Germans. Arrange it in columns under 
the following headings: Name of people; Location in 376 a.d. ; Date of 
entrance into the Empire ; Leaders ; Final settlement ; Fate of settlement. 

Search Topics. — (i) Influence of Geography on History. George, 
Relatiojis of Geography and History, ch. ii. — (2) Greek Contributions 
TO Civilization. Seignobos, Ancient Civilization, 160-172; Adams, Civili- 
zation during the Middle Ages, 15-19. — (3) Roman Contributions to Civi- 
lization. Morey, Outlines of Roman History, 311-326 ; Morey, Outlines of 
Ancient History, 470-478 ; Adams, Civilization during the Middle Ages, 20-38. 
■ — (4) Character and Institutions of the Ancient Germans. Emerton, 
Introduction, 14-17; Bemont and Monod, Medieval Europe, ch. ii; Adams, 
Civilization during the Middle Ages, 89-104; Harding, Story of the Middle 
Ages, 12-22; Ogg, Source Book, 19-31. — (5) The Roman Law. Morey, 
Outlines of Roman History, 320-323; Thatcher and '&c\vffiW., Europe in the 
Middle Age, 73-74; Encyclopedia Britannica, "Justinian I." — (6) Ger- 
manic Ideas of Law. Emerton, Introduction, ch. viii ; Ogg, Source Book, 
59-67; Duruy, Middle Ages, 61-66; Thatcher and Schwill, Europe in the 
Middle Age, 53-55. — (7) Mohammedan Religion and Worship. Seignobos, 
Medieval and Modern Civilization, 39-46; Duruy, Middle Ages, 81-84; 
Ogg, Source Book, 97-104; Emerton, Introduction, 122-125; Encyclopedia 
Britannica, "Mohammedan Rehgion." — (8) Charles Martel and the 
Battle of Tours. Emerton, Introduction, 112-122, 126-129; Creasy, 
Fifteen Decisive Battles, ch. vii; Masterman, Dawn of Medieval Europe, 
ch. xi. — (9) Boniface and the Conversion of the Germans. Merivale, 
Conversion of the West, ch. vii ; Robinson, Readings in European History, I, 
105-111; Bemont and Moiiod, Medieval Europe, 175-179; Munro and 
Sellery, Medieval Civilization, 120-128. — (10) Christianity as an Ele- 
ment IN the Making of Europe. Adams, Civilization during the Middle 
Ages, 50-60. — (11) Pope Gregory the Great. Encyclopedia Britannica 
(nth ed.), XII, 566-568; Emerton, Introduction, 108-113; Bemont and 
Monod, Medieval Europe, 1 21-124; Robinson, Readings in European His- 
tory, I, 73-82. 

General Reading. — The best brief accounts of the introductory period are 
in Emerton, Introduction to the Middle Ages; Church, Beginning of the Middle 
Ages; and M.a.'&te.rTadja., Dawn of Medieval Europe (4^6-^18). Oman's The 
Dark Ages {4y6-pi8) is more advanced. Sheppard's The Fall of Rome is a 
comprehensive account ; its lecture form makes it readable. Villari's Bar- 
barian Invasions of Italy is recent and valuable. The most complete work 
in English is Hodgkin's Italy and her Invaders, in eight volumes. Gibbon's 
classical Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire has recently been reedited 
by Professor Bury. 



CHAPTER I I 

i 

THE EMPIRE OF CHARLEMAGNE AND ITS DISSOLUTION I 

A. Charlemagne's Wars and Government (768-814) | i 

With the accession of Charles the Great (or Charlemagne), \ \ 
after the death of his father Pepin the Short in 768, we come to 
one of the great outstanding figures of world history. 25. Charlb- 
In the history of the early Middle Ages, Charlemagne is ™^sne's , 
as important as Caesar is in ancient history, or Napoleon history 
in modern history, or George Washington in the history of our 
own country. His reign is noteworthy both for its military 
conquests and for its peaceful achievements. The latter are the 
more important, but we will turn first to his conquests. 

A list of the peoples against whom he waged war during the 
forty-six years that he ruled shows the wide area covered by his 
military operations. It includes the Aquitanians and Bretons 
of southern and western Gaul ; the Mohammedans in Spain and 
the Mediterranean islands ; the Lombards in Italy ; the German 
Thuringians, Bavarians, and Saxons, and their neighbors the 
Danes; and the Avars, Slavs, and Greeks of eastern Europe. 
In all, Charlemagne sent forth more than fifty military expedi- 
tions, at least half of which he commanded in person. 

Against several of these peoples repeated expeditions were 
necessary. Of all his enemies the most stubborn were the hea- 
then and barbarian Saxons, who dwelt in the trackless ^6 con- 
forests and swamps bordering on the North Sea between quest of the 
the rivers Ems and Elbe. The task of conquering this ^^°^^ , 
people required for its completion eighteen separate expeditions, 
distributed over thirty years. The most troublesome tribes 
were transported to other parts of the kingdom. ' Throughout 
Saxony fortresses were established and bishoprics founded 

.27 



30 



THE EMPIRE OF CHARLEMAGNE 



(around which grew up the first towns), and Christianity was 
forced upon the land at the point of the sword. Opposi- 
tion was at last crushed, and within a few generations the 
Saxons became the most powerful nation in the Prankish realm. 
Even more important than the Saxon wars were the 
wars with the Lombards. In spite of the two expeditions of 
27 Wars Pepin the Short (§ 22), the power of the Lombards con-' 
with Loin- tinned to be a menace to the papacy. The Lombard 
^^ ^ king, moreover, harbored pretenders to a share in Charle- 

magne's kingdom. Consequently when the Pope appealed to 
Charlemagne for aid against the Lombards, Charlemagne 
marched to his assistance. In the year 774 he overthrew the 
Lombard king and took for himself the title King of the Lom- 
bards. The year before he had renewed his father's gift to the 
Pope of the rule over Ravenna and other parts of Italy. The 
conquest of Lombardy and this donation were two of the most 
important acts of Charlemagne's reign. They brought the 
king of the Franks into closer relations with the papacy, 
strengthened the temporal power of the Popes, and prepared 
the way for the revival of the Western Empire under the rule 
of Charlemagne. 

The lands over which Charlemagne ruled in 800 included 
what are now France, Switzerland, Belgium, Holland, more 
28. Revival than half of Germany and Italy, and parts of Austria 
pireiVthe ^^^ Spain (maps, pp. 20, 28). Over the "eternal city" 
West of Rome itself he exercised supreme authority by virtue 

of the title "Patrician of the Romans." The extent of Charle- 
magne's power made him already in fact, though not in name, 
the Emperor of the West. The ruler at Constantinople at this 
time was a woman, the Empress Irene, who had just deposed 
her son, put out his eyes, and seized the power for herself. 
The West refused to recognize her rule, and looked on the throne 
of the empire as vacant. What was more natural than that it 
should be given to the king of the Franks, the real ruler of the 
West ? Charlemagne was qmte prepared for this step, but by 
whom should the imperial crown be conferred ? 



CHARLEMAGNE'S WARS AND GOVERNMENT 



31 



Whatever solution Charlemagne had in mind, the circum- 
stances of the coronation were not of his arranging. The 
close of the year 800 found him in the city of Rome. At 29. Coro 



the solemn celebration of Christmas in the old church 



nation of 



Charle- 
of St. Peter's, as Charlemagne knelt in prayer at the altar, magne (800) 

Pope Leo III placed a crown upon his head, while the people 




Coronation of Charlemagne 
Fresco (igth century) in Hotel de Villa, Aix-la-Chapelle 

cried, "To Carolus Augustus, crowned by God, mighty and 
pacific Emperor, be life and victory." 

The coronation of Charlemagne, in the language of Mr. Bryce 
(an English historian), "is not only the central event of the 
Middle Ages, it is also one of those very few events of ^ , „ 

. 1 • 1 1 •!• 1 Holy Roman 

which, takmg them singly, it may be said that if they Empire (re- 
had not happened, the history of the world would have vised ed.), sc 




The Emperor Charlemagne 

Diirer's painting (1510), showing the insignia of later Emperors, 
portraits all show Charlemagne without a beard. 
32 



Contemporary 



CHARLEMAGNE'S WARS AND GOVERNMENT 33 

been different." The leading ideas of the old Roman Empire 
were those of unity, order, and centralization ; but powerful 
tendencies had been at work since its fall in the West to 
produce separation, disorder, and anarchy. Charlemagne, by 
the brilliancy of his genius and the splendor of his victories, 
was able to revive the only institution which could give even 
a semblance of political union to western Europe, and check 
these destructive tendencies. He alone of medieval rulers held 
the commanding position to accomplish this ; and his work was 
done barely in time. A few score years more of decay would 
have made the task practically impossible. "When the hero 
was gone," says Bryce, "the returning wave of anarchy and 
barbarism swept up violent as ever, yet it could not wholly 
obliterate the past." Charlemagne's opportune revival of the 



Signature of Charlemagne (790) 

Charlemagne made only the two strokes in the central part of the monogram 
KAROLVS ( = Charles) ; the scribe wrote the rest. The words to the left and 
to the right are Latin for " Signature of Charles, the most glorious King." 

empire had implanted too deeply the ideal of European unity 
to permit of its ever after being wholly lost. 

In dealing with the complex and difficult problems of his 
great empire, Charlemagne showed as remarkable genius for 
governing as he displayed in waging war. To each of 30. Law in 
its peoples — Franks, Burgundians, Romans, Lombards, ^^ empire 
Goths, Bavarians, Saxons — he left its own law, making only 
such changes by his decrees, or "capitularies," as the good of 
the state and of society demanded. This was in keeping with 
the early German idea of law. To these barbarians the "law" 



34 THE EMPIRE OF CHARLEMAGNE 

of each individual was an inheritance from the past of his race, 
and was as much a part of him as the breath that he drew. 
Wherever he went, the German expected to be tried by the law 
of his own race, and not by that of the people among whom he 
lived. 

In considering the institutions of Charlemagne's empire, it 
must be remembered that the government of the Roman 
Charle- Empire had perished in the period of the invasions, and 
magne's that cruder and simpler forms of government, mostly 
revenues ^£ Germanic origin, had taken its place. Taxes paid to the 
state were one of the things that had disappeared with the fall 
of the Roman Empire. So Charlemagne's needs were supplied, 
like those of most medieval rulers, chiefly from the proceeds of 
his own estates (villae), for which elaborate regulations were 
made. The Emperor usually traveled from vill to vill with his 
suite, to consume the produce arising on each estate. On the 
other hand, public officers, military service, and the like, were 
unpaid, and the financial needs of the state were therefore less 
than now. Charlemagne's government was far from being as 
free and orderly as the governments under which European 
nations live to-day. Yet when we consider the difficulties of 
the time, and compare his government with that of his successors, 
we wonder, not that he did not accomplish more, but that amid 
such conditions he was able to accomplish so much. 

Under the Merovingians the Prankish kingdom had been 

divided into local districts, each ruled by an officer called a 

32. Counts "count," who was appointed by the king. These counts 

and were retained by Charlemagne as the chief officers of his 

™'^^^ local government. In their hands was placed the military 

leadership of the districts, together with the administration of 

justice. The counts — as was natural in a rude and barbarous 

time, when supervision was slight and means of communication 

difficult — often abused their powers and were guilty of great 

oppression. To supervise their work Charlemagne sent out 

each year royal commissioners {missi dominici) whose special 

function it was to link the local to the central government. The 



CHARLEMAGNE'S WARS AND GOVERNMENT 35 

missi inspected the national militia, heard complaints against 
the counts, enforced justice, and guarded the interests of the 
king. Usually they were sent out two by two — a noble and a 
churchman. 

Twice a year, in early summer and in the fall or winter, 
Charlemagne summoned the principal men of his empire to 
consult with him concerning its afifairs. To the summer 33. The 
meeting, called the "Field of May," came all freemen May Field 
capable of bearing arms. The meeting was often followed by 
a military expedition, in which each warrior supplied his own 
arms and equipment, and served at his own expense. The 
following description of a general assembly of Charlemagne's 
reign, as it is conceived by a modern French writer, will 
assist in understanding the relations between Charle- pustel de 
magne and his chiefs, and between them and the or- Coulanges, 
dinary freemen. "An immense multitude is gathered ' ^^ 
together in a plain, under tents; it is divided into distinct 
groups. The chiefs of the groups assemble about the king, and 
deliberate with him. Then each of these makes known to his 
own people what has been decided, consults them perhaps, at 
any rate obtains their assent with as little difficulty as the king 
has obtained his own ; for these men are dependent on him just 
as he is dependent on the king. The general assembly is a com- 
posite of a thousand little assemblies, which, through their chiefs 
alone, are united about the prince." The king's will, adds this 
writer, decided everything ; the nobles only advised. 

In one respect Charlemagne enjoyed much greater power 
than was possessed by medieval rulers after him. In his as- 
semblies he not only dealt with affairs which concerned 34. church 
the state, but also with those which concerned the church, ^"^ ^*^*® 
instead of leaving these to be decided, as was later the rule, by 
the assemblies and courts of the church itself. Church and state 
were thus to a considerable extent united. Whenever Charle- 
magne believed that priests or bishops were not performing 
their duties properly, he did not hesitate to correct them, and 
to pass laws deciding the most important church questions. 



36 THE EMPIRE OF CHARLEMAGNE 

B. Education and Arts under Charlemagne 

Charlemagne's work for education and the arts constitutes 
one of the most important features of his reign. When he came 

„ -^1, 1 to the throne the Hteratures of ancient Greece and Rome 
35. Charle- 
magne and had almost disappeared from the knowledge of men in 
education western Europe, and even the writings of the church 
scarcely survived. The only "books" were parchment volumes 
written by hand. Charlemagne himself learned to speak and 
read Latin in addition to his native German, and to understand 
Greek, though not to speak it. He never mastered the art of 
writing as then used, though he kept waxed tablets always by 
him to practice it. 

Charlemagne's chief means to improve education and learn- 
ing was the Palace School — a kind of learned society composed 
of the chief scholars and courtiers about the Emperor. This 
school played an important part in a real revival of learning 
' and literature. Its head was an English monk named Alcuin. 
He was invited to the Emperor's court from his monastery at 
York, which was then the most learned center in western Europe. 
Other learned men came from Italy, Spain, and other lands; 
some were grammarians, some poets, some theologians. Charle- 
magne discussed with them astronomy, shipbuilding, history, 
the text of the Scriptures, theology, moral philosophy, and many 
other subjects. For the younger members of the royal family 
and court, there was more formal instruction. The Palace School 
may thus be regarded as a sort of high school, as well as a literary 
and debating club. 

Charlemagne's care for education did not stop with his own 

court. In his capitularies we read such commands as these : 

Robinson, " Let schools be established in which boys may learn to 

Readings m read. Correct carefully the Psalms, the signs in writ- 

History, I, ing, the songs, the calendar, the grammar, in each mon- 

^46 astery or bishopric, and the Catholic books; because 

often men desire to pray to God properly, but they pray badly 

because of the incorrect books. And do not permit mere boys 



EDUCATION AND ARTS 



37 



to corrupt them in reading or writing. If there is need of 
writing the Gospel, Psalter, and Missal, let men of mature age 
do the writing with diligence." 

Charlemagne also planned canals, built bridges, and restored 
churches which were crumbling into ruin. But his work in 
this direction did little to check the artistic decay of the g p, 
times. From the old residence of the Emperors at Ra- magne as a 
venna, a hundred marble columns were taken for Charle- ^^^^^^^ 
magne's palace and chapel at Aachen (Aix-la-Chapelle ; 
a'xen, aks-la-sha-pel')- Thither also were transported pic- 
tures, mosaics, and 
precious sculptures. 
Charlemagne thus set 
a bad example to 
the ages which fol- 
lowed. He encour- 
aged a robbery of the 
ancient monuments, 
which caused more 
destruction among 
them than was caused 
by all the ravages of 
time and war. 

The ten years fol- 
lowing Charlemagne's 
coronation as Em- 
peror were mainly 
spent at his capital, 
Aachen. His fame 
abroad was at its 
height. To his court 
came envoys from 
the renowned Ha- 

roun-al-Rashid (ha-roon' ar-ra-shed') , caliph of Bagdad, whose 
present of an enormous elephant excited the liveliest interest 
among the curious Franks. 




Cathedral at Aix-la-Chapelle 

The octagon at center of the picture was built by 
Charlemagne ; it is an example of the Byzantine 
style of architecture. 



38 



THE EMPIRE OF CHARLEMAGNE 



In arranging for the succession after his death, Charlemagne 
followed the old Germanic practice of dividing the kingdom 
37. Charle- among his three sons, whom he established as sub-kings 
age^and ° ^^ ^^^ lifetime over portions of his realm. One of the 
death (814) chief differences in the position of the monarch, as con- 
ceived by the Roman Emperors and by the barbarian kings, 
was that the Roman Emperors in theory held their power as 




Royal Palace of Caroling: an Times 
From VioUet-le-Duc 

a trust in the name and interest of the state, — that is, of all, — 
while the barbarian kings regarded the royal power as private 
property, to which ordinary rules of inheritance could be applied. 
Charlemagne's arrangement, however, broke down, owing to the 
fact that his two older sons died before he did. Then Charle- 
magne placed the imperial crown on the head of his third 
son, Louis, and recognized him as his successor. There was ap- 
parently no thought of the Pope conferring the crown, as had 
been done at Charlemagne's own unexpected coronation. 
Four months later, in January, 814, the old Emperor died of a 
fever, being upward of seventy years of age. 



EDUCATION AND ARTS 



39 



Few men have left a deeper impression on their times, and 
around few have clustered so many legends. Because many- 
important personages of the Middle Ages are but dim 38. His ap- 
and shadowy figures to us, owing to the scantiness of an^'^char- 
our means of information, the account of Charlemagne's acter 
personality and habits, given by his secretary and biographer 
Eginhard (a'gin-hart) , is of peculiar interest. 

"Charles was large and strong, and of lofty stature, though 
not disproportionately tall. The upper part of his head was 
round, his eyes very large and animated, nose a little long, Eginhard, 
hair fair, and face laughing and merry. His appearance ^^^■"^^'^sne, 
was always stately and dignified, whether he was standing (condensed) 
or sitting. He took frequent exercise on horseback and in the 
chase. He enjoyed natural warm springs, and often practiced 
swimming, in which he was such an adept that none could 
surpass him. Thence it was that he built his palace at Aix-la- 
Chapelle, and lived there constantly during his latter years 
until his death. He used to wear the national, that is to say 
the Frankish, dress, — next his skin a linen shirt and linen 
breeches, and above these a tunic fringed with silk; while 
hose fastened by bands covered his legs, and shoes his feet, and 
he protected his shoulders and chest in winter by a close-fitting 
coat of otter or mar- 
ten skins. Over all 
he flung a blue cloak, 
and he always had a 
sword girt about him. 
Charlemagne was 
temperate in eating 
and particularly so in 
drinking, for he abom- 
inated drunkenness in 

anybody, much more in himself and those of his household ; 
but he could not easily abstain from food, and often com- 
plained that fast days injured his health. His meals ordi- 
narily consisted of four courses, not counting the roast, which 




Roasting on a Spit 
From a MS. in the Bodleian Library, Oxford 



40 



THE EMPIRE OF CHARLEMAGNE 



his huntsmen used to bring in on the spit ; he was more fond 
of this than of any other dish. While at table he listened to 
reading or music." 

C. Dissolution or Charlemagne's Empire 

The power which Charlemagne built up declined rapidly 

after his death. Civil wars and rebellions distracted the reign 

39. Parti- of his well-meaning but weak successor, Louis the Pious 

Verdun (814-840). Louis's death was followed by a terrible 

(843) battle between his three sons at Fontenay' (841). A 

treaty of partition was then arranged between the brothers at 

Verdun' in 843. One brother, Louis the German, received the 

eastern third of the empire, beyond the rivers Aar and Rhine. 




Partition of Verdun (843) 



DISSOLUTION OF THE EMPIRE 41 

The youngest, Charles the Bald, received the western third, 
lying west of the Rhone and the Scheldt (skelt). The eldest 
brother, Lothair', received the middle strip,- with Italy and the 
title of Emperor. This sweeping partition was the first step in 
marking out territories in which were to arise great European 
states. Louis's division included the districts in which were 
spoken various German dialects, and corresponds roughly 
to modern Germany. In Charles's portion a corrupted Latin 
prevailed, the forerunner of the French speech, and this region 
grew in time to be modern France. The middle strip had 
neither unity of race nor a common language. Its parts, 
therefore, together with Italy, became for ten centuries the 
object of conquests and the seat of European wars. 

The history of the later descendants of Charlemagne makes 
a confused and uninteresting story. The incompetent rulers 
in the various parts of his empire quarreled among them- 40. End of 
selves, until they rapidly became extinct. In Italy the -^^^^^^ 
Carolingian line of rulers ended in 875 ; in Germany it Germany 
lasted until 911. Only once was the Frankish empire reunited 
under a single ruler. This was under the incompetent Charles 
the Fat, one of the grandsons of Louis the Pious, who for three 
brief years (884-887) ruled over the whole of Charlemagne's 
realm. His deposition and death mark the final break-up of the 
unity of the Carolingian lands. 

In France for a hundred years longer some semblance of 
power remained to the Carolingians. Three times within that 
period, however, they were set aside and rulers of another 41- Fall of 
house (the Robertians, so called from an ancestor, Robert ji^France^'*^ 
the Strong) were put in their place. In 987, the last of (987) 
the French Carolingians in the direct line died, leaving no chil- 
dren. On the ground that the throne was not hereditary but 
elective, an assembly of nobles then rejected the claim of the 
uncle of this king, and chose as ruler a Robertian, Hugh 
Capet (ca-pe') . Thus in France also the power of the great 
house from which had sprung Charles Martel, Pepin, and 
Charlemagne, came definitely to an end. The future of France 



42 



THE EMPIRE OF CHARLEMAGNE 



was left in the lands of its third dynasty, the Capetiahs 
(ca-pe'shanz), members of which ruled there until the abolition 
of the monarchy by. the French revolution in 1792. 

THE DESCENDANTS OF CHARLEMAGNE 
(i; Charlemagne 
(768-814) 



(In Italy and the 
Middle Strip) 



Pepin 
(d. 810) 

Bernard 
(d. 818) 



(2) Louts I. the Pious 
(814-840) 



(In Germany) 



(In France) 



(3) LOTHAIR I 
(843-8SS) 



Pepin 
(d. 838) 



Louis the German 
(843-876) 




(5) Charles the Bald 
(843-877) 



(4) Louis II 
(8SS-87S) 



Carloman Louis 

(K. of the 

Bavaria, Younger 

876-880) (K. of 

Saxony, 

876-S82) 

(g) Arnulf 



(6) Charles 

the Fat 

(K. of Swabia, 

876-887. 

Ruler of all 

Carolingian lands 



Louis II 

the 
Stammerer 
(877-879) 



deposed 887, d, 888) 



K. of Germany 
(887-899) 



RIVAL LINE IN FRANCE OF 
THE "ROBERTIANS" 

Robert the Strong, 
Duke of the French (d. 866) 



Odo, Count of Paris 
(King, 888-898) 



Robert, Duke of the French 
(King, 922-923) 




Charles, Duke of 

Lower Lorraine 

. (d. 994) 



Hugh the Great, Emma = Rudolph, 

Duke of the French Duke of Burgundy 

(d. 9S6) iKing^^923j936) 

Hugh Capet (King, 987-996), 
founder of the Capetian line 
which ruled France for eight 
hundred years (to 1792) 

Explanation 

Names underscored thus are those of members of the Carolingian house who bore 
the title of Emperor. The seventh and eighth Emperors, beginning to count with 
Charlemagne, were obscure Italian princes, not of the Carolingian house. 
• Indicates extinction of the male line. 

Indicates illegitimate descent. 



TOPICS AND REFERENCES 43 

IMPORTANT DATES 

768-814. Reign of Charlemagne. 

800. Charlemagne crowned Emperor at Rome. 

843. Partition of Verdun. 

875. End of the Carolingian line in Italy. 

884-887. Charlemagne's empire reunited under Charles the Fat. 

911. End of the Carolingian line in Germany. 

987. End of the Carolingian line in France; Hugh Capet becomes king. 

TOPICS AND REFERENCES 

Suggestive Topics. — (i) What did Clovis, Charles Martel, Pepin the Short, 
and Charlemagne each contribute to the growth of the Frankish power ? 
(2) In what consisted the special greatness of Charlemagne? (3) Com- 
pare the extent of the territory ruled over by Charlemagne with that of 
the Eastern Empire in his day. (4) Why was the papacy more friendly 
to the Franks than to the other Germans ? (5) Why was the coronation 
of Charlemagne as Emperor so important? (6) Compare the German 
ideas of law with modern ideas. (7) Why were officers like the "missi" 
needed to control local officials? (8) Why was Charlemagne's care for 
education important? (9) Did Charlemagne in his habits of life more 
nearly resemble a Roman Emperor or barbarian chieftain ? 

Search Topics. — (i) Charlemagne's Wars with the Saxons. Emer- 
ton, Introduction, 189-205. — (2) Legendary Account of his War with 
THE Lombards. Emerton, Introduction, 181-186; Longfellow, Tales of the 
Wayside Inn, Pt. Ill (Poet's Tale). — (3) Story of Roland. Encyclo- 
pedia Brilannica (nth ed.), XXIII, 464 ; Sheppard, Fall of Rome, 508-513 ; 
Bulfinch, Legends of Charlemagne; Song of Roland. — (4) Contemporary 
Accounts of the Coronation of Charlemagne. Duncalf and Krey, 
Parallel Source Problems, Pt. I; Ogg, Source Book, 130-134; Robinson, 
Readings in European History, 1, 131-134. — (5) Charlemagne's Govern- 
ment. Sargent, The Franks, ch. xviii ; Mombert, Charles the Great, Bk. Ill, 
ch. i. — (6) Alcuin and the Palace School. Ogg, Source Book, 144-145 ; 
Mombert, Charles the Great, 241-267; Hodgkin, Charles the Great, 235-238; 
West, Alcuin, ch.. iii; Masterman, Dawn of Medieval Europe, ch. xx. — 
(7) Oaths of Strassburg. Ogg, Source Book, 149-154; Munro, Middle 
Ages, 20; Emerton, Medieval Europe, 26-28. 

General Reading. — Mombert's Charles the Great is the best fife of Charle- 
magne in English. Hodgkin's Charles the Great is an excellent brief ac- 
count ; fuller accounts of many subjects are in his Italy and her Invaders. 
The chapters in Guizot's History of Civilization in France are still of value. 
Eginhard's contemporary Life of Charlemagne is brief and is easily obtain- 
able in English translation. 



CHAPTER II 

RAIDS AND SETTLEMENTS OF THE NORTHMEN 

A. On the Continent 

One of the causes of the breaking up of the Carolingian 
Empire was a new flood of Germanic invaders (the Northmen) 

42. Causes who burst upon western Europe in the ninth century. 

N rth e 's '^^^ newcomers were a sturdy people from the lands about 

raids the Baltic Sea, where their descendants — the modern 

Danes, Norwegians, and Swedes — still dwell. They were 
closely related to the German tribes whose coming overwhelmed 
the Roman Empire four hundred years before. During those 
earlier invasions, the Northmen had remained quiet; but in 
the latter part of the eighth century they too felt the impulse to 
conquest. Their lands discouraged agriculture, while the sea 
invited to distant adventure. Charlemagne's conquest of the 
Saxons had brought Christianity and Frankish rule close to 
their doors, and thus the Northmen learned of the booty and 
glory to be won in the rich lands to the south. The result was 
a series of raids and expeditions by sea, which may be regarded 
as the last wave of the Germanic migrations. 

In their own language the Northmen were called "vikings," 

or creekmen {vik =* creek), because of their habit of sallying forth 

■^. , from the creeks and bays of Scandinavia to plunder and 

extent destroy. Almost the whole of Christendom suffered at 

their hands. They plundered the shores alike of Germany, 
France, England, Scotland, Ireland, Spain. Everywhere their 
method of attack was much the same. In their light vessels 
they entered the river mouths and advanced into the heart 
of the country ; then they seized horses and rode far and wide. 
They directed their attacks especially against the churches and 

44 



ON THE CONTINENT 



45 




Remains of a Viking Ship tound in Sweden 



monasteries. In these were rich gold and silver vessels, and 
fine embroidered cloths; and since the Northmen were still 
worshipers of the 
heathen gods, Woden 
and Thor, they were 
restrained by no reli- 
gious scruples. It was 
easier, also, to capture 
a church or a monas- 
tery than to take a 
fortified town, for the 
priests and monks were 
not fighting men. The terror inspired by the Northmen's 
pitiless ravages, by their lust for fighting, by their cruelty 
and faithlessness, led to the insertion of this prayer in the 
church services : "From the fury of the Northmen, good Lord, 
deliver us." 

At first the Northmen came only during the summer season, 
sailing home when the winter storms were due. Before long 
they began to spend the winter also in Christian lands. They 
would seize upon an island lying off the coast by a river's 
mouth, and from this as headquarters would go forth at all 
times of the year to ravage the surrounding country. In the 
Frankish lands they established such headquarters at the mouth 
of the Scheldt River, and soon had taken possession of all 
Frisia. In 843, — the year of the Partition of Verdun, — they 
seized the mouth of the river Loire, and extended their ravages 
to the valleys of the Seine and Garonne. Great stretches of 
country fell out of cultivation, and a large part of the popula- 
tion perished through massacre and starvation. In one of their 
raids they took and sacked the royal city of Aachen, stabled 
their horses in its cathedral, and despoiled the tomb of Charle- 
magne. 

The most famous struggle came at Paris in the years 885- 
886. Paris was not yet the capital of France, but its situation 
made it already important. It was built on a low island in 



46 RAIDS AND SETTLEMENTS OF THE NORTHMEN 

the Seine, with a fortified bridge connecting it with each bank. 
Although the city had already been twice sacked, its governor 

44. Great (Count Odo) and its bishop encouraged the people to re- 
Paris (88s- ^^^^" '^^^ viking ships are said to have numbered seven 
886) hundred, and to have carried an army of 40,000 men. 

For eleven months the city held out. Then the "cowardly, 
unwieldy, incompetent" Emperor, Charles the Fat (§ 40), 
bribed the Northmen to withdraw. The bravery displayed by 
Count Odo in the defense of Paris was one of the things that 
brought into prominence the Robertian family, to which he 
belonged. It was one of a chain of events which enabled his 
grandnephew Hugh Capet, a century later, to wrest the throne 
of France from Charlemagne's enfeebled descendants (§41). 
The withdrawal of the Northmen from Paris did not prevent 
them from settling in increasing numbers in the lands about 

45. Grant the lower Seine. Their chief leader was Rolf (or Rollo), 
mandv'to called "the Walker" because his gigantic size prevented 
Rolf [911) his finding a horse to carry him. For nearly fifty years 

he had plundered Frisia, England, Scotland, France; at the 
great siege of Paris he had been one of the chiefs. Rolf, however, 
was something more than a mere pirate and robber. When he 
captured a town he strengthened its walls, rebuilt its churches, 
and sought to rule it as a conquering prince. In this way he 
secured a number of towns north and south of the mouth of 
the river Seine. In the year 911, the Carolingian king of France, 
despairing of securing peace by other means, granted him a 
wide stretch of country in that region, with the title of duke. 
The grant was made on three conditions : first, Rolf must set- 
tle his Northmen there and leave the rest of the land at 
peace; second, he must become a Christian; and third, he 
must do homage to the French king as his lord.^ 

The settlement of the Northmen in "Normandy," as this 

1 There is a story that Rolf was asked to do homage by kneeling down and kiss- 
ing the French king's foot. Rolf refused to do this, but commanded one of his fol- 
lowers to perform the humiliating act. The follower had no more liking for the cere- 
mony than his chief ; and the story runs that when he lifted the king's foot to touch 
it to his lips he raised it so high that he toppled the king over on his back ! 



ON THE CONTINENT 



47 



land was soon called, proved a most fortunate step for France. 

Rolf's followers settled 
down quietly under his 
stern rule and speedily 
became law-abiding 
subjects. According to 
an ancient chronicle, 
Rolf, while hunting in 
a forest near Rouen 
(roo-aN'), his capital, 
hung his gold bracelets 
on a branch of an oak 
tree, and there they re- 
mained for three years 
without any one daring 
to touch them. 

The energy and dar- 
ing which produced 
the Northmen's 
in 
France mani- 
fested itself also in more 
distant expeditions. 
One stream of these ad- 
venturers turned to the 
vast plains of western 
Russia, and united the 
Slavs of that region 
into a single great king- 
dom (862), of which 
the center was Kief 
(see map, p. 131). The 
dynasty which their 
chieftain Rurik estab- 




46. North- 
settlements in men in dis- 
tant lands 



Norse Ast 
Carved door from an old church in Iceland ; now 
in Copenhagen Museum. From Du Chaillu's 
The Viking Age. Note the dragon above and 
the " world-serpent " (Midgard) below. 



lished reigned over Russia for more than seven hundred years. 
Others of these restless warriors found an outlet for their en- 



48 RAIDS AND SETTLEMENTS OF THE NORTHMEN 

ergies in serving as mercenary troops under the Emperor at Con- 
stantinople. In the western Atlantic, viking bands discovered 
and settled Iceland in the ninth century, and Greenland in 
the tenth. And about the year looo — almost five hundred 
years before Columbus's voyage — one of the Greenland 
settlers, named Leif Ericson, brought back wonderful tales 
of a land of grapes ("Vinland") which he had found to the 
south. Without doubt, he had discovered the mainland of 
North America. 

B. King Alfred and the Northmen in England 

The island of Britain, like all of western Europe, once formed 

part of the Roman Empire. As we have seen, it too was over- 

The ^^^ ^y Germanic tribes (Angles, Saxons, and Jutes) 

English in about the year 449. In the course of two centuries the 

Britain newcomers completely conquered the eastern and southern 

parts of the island. The Britons were killed, enslaved, or driven 

into the mountains. The institutions of the German invaders 

were introduced with but little admixture of Celtic or Roman 

elements. Even the Christian religion disappeared, along with 

the Latin tongue and the Roman-British civilization. Near the 

close of the sixth century, however, Christianity was reintroduced. 

Within a hundred years thereafter the whole island had accepted 

this faith,- and had recognized the Pope's headship of the church. 

In the seventh, eighth, and ninth centuries there were at 

least seven different kingdoms of the English. They were 

48 The called respectively the West Saxons, South Saxons, East 

seven king- Saxons, East Anglians (North Folk and South Folk), 

doms united ^gj-cians (or Middle Angles), Northumbrians, and the 

men of Kent. The names of most of these peoples are still 

preserved in the county names of the regions where they ruled 

(Sussex, Essex, Norfolk, etc.). At first the different kingdoms 

were often at war. Then gradually the stronger kingdoms 

began to gain power over the weaker ones. Finally, at the 

beginning of the ninth century, Egbert, king of Wessex, was 

able to unite all England under his single rule. This union was 



KING ALFRED AND THE NORTHMEN IN ENGLAND 



49 



made permanent by the raids of the Northmen, which became 
dangerous during the reigns of Egbert's immediate successors. 

The Danes, as the English called the Northmen, had begun 
to harass the coasts of England as early as 787. As on the 
Continent, they first came merely to plunder, but about 49. Danish 
850 they began to form settlements. Little by little they invasions 
overran the land, until all England had been taken except 
Wessex itself. Here they were checked by the young king 

Alfred, — "the wisest. 



best, and greatest king 
that ever reigned in 
England." 

In the year that 
Alfred (871-900) ^ be- 
came king, nine ^^ Alfred 
general battles checks the 
r -I . Danes 

were fought 
south of the river 
Thames (t e mz) . 
After seven years of 
struggle Alfred won a 
decisive victory (878) 
and drove the Danes 
into their .fortified 
camp. There he be- 
sieged them for four- 
teen days. Inasmuch 
as they were separated 
from their ships and 
could get no supplies, 
their king agreed to 
make a peace, known 




England after the Treaty of Wedmore (878) 

as the treaty of Wedmore. "And then," says the old chronicle, 



1 The date of Alfred's death is usually given as goi, but recent investigations 
give greater probability to the date given in the text. See Ramsey, Foundations of 
England, I, 267. 



50 



RAIDS AND SETTLEMENTS OF THE NORTHMEN 



"the army delivered hostages to King Alfred, with many 
oaths that they would leave this kingdom, and also promised 
him that their king should receive baptism. And this they 
accordingly fulfilled." By a revision of this treaty, made a 
few years later, the Danes were to have all the country of 
England north and east of the Thames River, and of the old 
Roman road called Watling Street. The name "Danelaw" was 
given to this region because there the Danish, and not the 
Saxon, law was in force. 

After the treaty of Wedmore, Wessex for some time enjoyed 
peace. Alfred now had opportunity to accomplish that re- 
el' organization and strengthening of his kingdom which, 
work in equally with his defeat of the Danes, constitutes his claim 

peace ^^ fame. Among his many works of peace were the fol- 

lowing : he fortified and partly rebuilt the city of London ; he 
reorganized the army ; he collected and revised the old laws of 




Anglo-Saxon Plow Team 
From a MS. Saxon calendar, tenth century 



the kingdom; he encouraged industry by bringing skilled 
workmen to England from foreign countries. . He was also 
deeply interested in education, and invited to his court learned 
men from the Continent, who formed a school modeled after 
the famous Palace School of the Emperor Charlemagne. Alfred 
himself translated a number of works from the Latin into the 
Anglo-Saxon tongue. He also gave orders for the compilation 
of the great Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, which is a chief source of 
our knowledge of English history for the following two 
centuries. 



KING ALFRED AND THE NORTHMEN IN ENGLAND 51 

Both for what he did and for what he was, Alfred truly de- 
serves his title "the Great." He was a brave warrior, a wise 
lawmaker, a patient teacher, and a watchful guardian char- 
of his people. Above all, he was a true and pure man, acter of 
loving his family and training his children with great ■^"®'* 
care. The secret of his success is told in his own words: ''To 
sum up all," he said, "it has ever been my desire to live worthily 
while I was alive, and after my death to leave to those that 
should come after me my memory in good works." 

In the latter part of Alfred's reign the war with the Danes 
began anew. Under his son and his three grandsons, who 
ruled one after another, the Danelaw was reconquered and jj^^ 
again joined with the rest of England. A large admixture Danelaw 
of Danish blood, however, continued in the north, leav- '®'^°°^"®'^® 
ing its marks in the rude freedom of the inhabitants. 

By the end of the tenth century the invasions of the North- 
men had come to an end. Those who remained in Scandinavia 
settled down and organized the kingdoms of Norway, ^^^ ^^ 
Sweden, and Denmark. About the year 1000 they were the viking 
converted to the Christian religion. As in other European ^^ ^ 
countries, their wars were now fought in the interests of their 
kings. The period of viking raids and settlements was at an end. 



IMPORTANT DATES 

787. Northmen first attack England. 

862. Rurik the Northman founds a kingdom in Russia. 

871-900. Reign of King Alfred in England. 

885-886. Great siege of Paris by the Northmen. 

911. Normandy ceded to Rolf. 

1000. America discovered by the Northmen. 

TOPICS AND REFERENCES 

Suggestive Topics. — (i) Compare the ninth century Northmen with the 
Franks of that time. (2) Compare the long ships of the vikings with the 
ancient Roman galleys. (3) Were the ships in which the Northmen dis- 
covered Greenland and America of the same kind as their long war ships ? 



52 RAIDS AND SETTLEMENTS OF THE NORTHMEN 

(4) How did the failure of the Emperor Charles the Fat to aid Paris con- 
tribute to the downfall of the Carolingians in France ? (5) Was the cession 
of Normandy to Rolf wise or unwise ? Why ? (6) Compare the settlement 
of the Angles and Saxons in Britain with that of the Franks in Gaul. 
(7) Was Alfred's treaty with the Danes wise or unwise ? Why ? (8) What 
qualities entitle Alfred to the name "the Great" ? (9) Compare Alfred with 
Charlemagne. (10) Which had the greater permanent results, the achieve- 
ments of the Northmen in Russia or their discovery of America ? 

Search Topics. — (i) The Northmen at Home. Du Chaillu, Viking Age, 
II, chs. XX, xxi ; Keary, Vikings in Western Christendom, ch. v. — (2) Has- 
tings, A Typical Viking. Harding, Story of the Middle Ages, 11 7-1 18; 
Keary, Vikings in Western Christendom, 358-365. — (3) The Great Siege 
OF Paris. Oman, Art of War, 140-148 ; Ogg, Source Book, 168-171 ; Robin- 
son, Readings in European History, I, 165-168. — (4) Cession of Nor- 
mandy TO Rolf. Oman, Dark Ages, 501-503 ; Ogg, Source Book, 171-173. 
• — (5) The Northmen in Russia. Rambaud, History of Russia, I, ch. 
iv. — (6) Norse Settlements in Iceland and Greenland. Du 
Chaillu, Viking Age, II, 514-519; Fiske, Discovery of America, 1, 151-163. 
— (7) The Discovery of America by the Northmen. Fiske, Discovery of 
America, I, 164-194; Du Chaillu, Viking Age, II, 519-530. — (8) Anglo- 
Saxon Conquest of Britain. Green, Short History of England, 7-16; 
Cheyney, Readings, 35-40. — (9) Conversion of the English to Chris- 
tianity. Traill, Social Engla^id, Vol. I, 1 53-161; Cheyney, Readings, 46- 
56; Terry, History of Engla^id, 34-48; Ogg, Source Book, 'jz-'j'j.- — 
(10) Character and Achievements of King Alfred. Green, Short 
History, 47-52; Plummer, Life and Times of Alfred; Encyclopedia Bri- 
tannica, "Alfred the Great"; Ogg, Source Book, 181-195; Cheyney, i?earf- 
ings, 63-69. 

General Reading. — - On the Northmen, Keary's Vikings in Western Chris- 
tendom, Anderson's Viking Tales of the North, and Du Chaillu's The Viking 
Age (2 vols.) may be consulted. For Alfred, in addition to the histories of 
England covering this period, see the lives by Plummer, Hughes, Bowker, 
and Pauli, and the article by Freeman (entitled "Aelfred") in the great 
Dictionary of National Biography. The contemporary biography by Asser 
is the chief source for Alfred's history; it may be had in several English 
translations. 



CHAPTER III 

THE FEUDAL SYSTEM 

A. ORiGiisrs 

Feudalism was the form of political, social, and economic 
organization which prevailed throughout western Europe at 
the height of the Middle Ages. It was a natural result Decay 
of the continued and ever increasing- weakness in the of central 
government. With the coming of the Germans into the . sovernmen 
Roman Empire, the strong centralized government of the 
empire had been broken up, and disorder held sway. Charle- 
magne checked for a time the tendency of the government 
to fall to pieces ; but with the decline of the Carolingian power 
after his death, through internal weakness and renewed bar- 
barian invasions, decay again set in. The bonds of government 
everywhere relaxed, the obligations of the state to protect the 
persons and rights of its subjects remained unfulfilled, and the 
strong oppressed the weak. 

Because of this growing weakness of the central government, 
rich and powerful men everywhere in western Europe took upon 
themselves the burden of their own defense. Every g_ Begin- 
lofty hilltop, every river-island and stronghold, became nings of 
a site for the tower or castle of some lord. Later these ®" ^ ^™ 
castles were looked upon by the lower classes as center^ of op- 
pression, but at first they were viewed with different senti- 
ments. They were then "the sure places of deposit for their 
harvests and their goods. In case of invasions they gave 
shelter to their wives, their children, themselves. Each ^i, ^ , , 

' ' _ Fustel de 

Strong castle constituted the safety of a district." The Coulanges, 
poorer freemen were obliged to surrender their independence ^^' ^^^ 
and become the dependents of the great man who took them 
under his protection, binding themselves to render to him service 

S3 




54 



ORIGINS 55 

against all other persons. If they had land in their own right, 
they usually gave it up to the lord, who then gave them back 
the use of it. If they had no land, the lord often granted them 
the use of some of his own land. Thus the lord became the head 
of a complicated group of persons and lands. He gradually ac- 
quired most of the governmental rights over these, because of 
the inability or failure of the government to discharge its 
duties. Feudalism ended by becoming not only a system of 
land tenure, in which the ownership of the land was lodged in 
one person and its use in another ; it became also a system of 
military, political, economic, and social organization. 

In the fully developed feudal system we can distinguish three 
distinct elements, (i) The first of these was the personal 
element, or vassalage. This was the relationship which Feudal 
bound a free dependent to a lord. The dependent (vassal) elements : 
rendered military service to the lord ; in return the lord ^^® 

protected his vassal. The roots of this personal element may 
be traced in Roman history to the relation between patron and 
client, and among the early Germans to the relation between 
the German chieftain and his band of military followers {comi- 
tatus). In the Frankish kingdom such relationships became 
almost universal. The vassal subjected himself to his lord 
by "doing homage" and taking an oath of "fealty," or fidelity. 
In the ceremony of homage he knelt and placed his hands in 
those of his lord, and declared himself to be his lord's "man" 
(Latin, homo) and promised to serve him honorably from that 
day forth. Rising to his feet, the vassal then took the oath 
oi fealty, swearing faithfully to fulfill his obligations to his lord. 
The relationship of lord and vassal became so general that, by 
the year 900, the system of independent freemen had practically 
disappeared in western Europe, and society had become a chain 
of dependents mounting from vassal to vassal up to the king. 

(2) The second element in feudalism was the benefice or fief. 
This may be defined as land (or other property) which a lord 
granted to another person to use without surrendering the 
complete ownership of it, and on the condition that the 



56 THE FEUDAL SYSTEM 

holder of it should, in return, make certain payments from time 
to time to the lord, and perform certain services which were 
58. Benefice not dishonorable. Similar arrangements for using land 
or fief j^ad been known under the later Roman Empire. In the 

troublous times which followed the Germanic conquests, great 
landlords found that they could not dispose of the surplus 
produce of their estates, because of the decay of roads, the lack 
of markets, and the disappearance of money from circulation. 
It was an economic advantage, therefore, to grant away the use 
of a portion of their land in return for rents and services. At 
first the person receiving a benefice did not necessarily become 
the vassal of the grantor, nor was the service which he owed 
military. By the end of the ninth century, however, vassalage 
and benefice-holding were united. Thenceforth a benefice- 
holder was usually also a vassal of the lord of the benefice ; and 
the vassal was normally a benefice-holder from the lord to whom 
he did homage. Originally, benefices were granted only for 
a term of years, or for life. Gradually, however, it became cus- 
tomary on the death of a tenant for a lord to regrant the estate 
to the tenant's heir. Primogeniture, — that is, the right of the 
eldest son to secure the whole estate — became the rule of 
feudal inheritance, as opposed to the equal division among all 
the children recognized by the Roman and Teutonic law. 
Personal property might be disposed of by will, but feudal land 
could not. In default of a recognized heir, it "escheated," 
or went back to its lord. The term fief is used especially to 
denote the later stage of the benefice, when it had become a 
fully hereditary estate held by a vassal on condition of military 
service. Back of all grants of fiefs lay the desire of the lord to 
increase the number of his heavily armed followers serving on 
Secretan horseback at their own expense. Benefices and fiefs 
Essaisurla may thus be looked upon as a "sort of money with which 
eo a tte, 98 ]^[^g^ ^^^^ lords paid for the services of which they had 
need." To the end of the Middle Ages there existed scattered 
here and there amid feudalized lands some non-feudal or "allo- 
dial" estates which were held in full ownership, and not from 



ORIGINS 57 

any lord. But the maxim, "No land without a lord, no lord 
without land," expressed the general rule. 

(3) The third element in feudalism was the right of govern- 
ment possessed by the lords — that is, the right which they 
possessed to perform within their territories most of the ^ q^^. 
acts which under the Roman Empire had been performed emmental 
by the state. The feudal lords held courts and tried "^ 
cases ; they exacted money contributions from their territories ; 
they levied troops and waged war ; and they even coined money. 
Different lords possessed these rights in varying degrees, but 
all the great lords, both laymen and churchmen, possessed some 
of them. Frequently such rights were acquired by grants from 
the crown exempting the estates of the recipient from the 
jurisdiction of the count and other royal officers. Thenceforth 
the count had no control over such lands. The functions 
which he formerly discharged passed to the lord of the estate, 
who exercised them not as powers delegated by the state, but 
in his own right and for his own profit. The counts in their 
turn made their offices and functions hereditary, along with 
the benefices which they held. Thus they became semi-sovereign 
princes owing little obedience to the king. Many lords also, 
who were neither royal officers nor possessed of governmental 
grants from the king, took similar rights when they saw others 
exercising them. In these various ways sovereignty, which 
should have been possessed entire by the state, was split up 
into a thousand fragments, and each lord seized such portions 
as he could. 

So far, feudalism has been spoken of as though it were a re- 
lationship between a single tier of lords and vassals. This, 
however, was far from being the case. Often, by the pro- ^ ^. 
cess known as "subinfeudation," a vassal who had re- feudal 
ceived a great estate would himself subgraht portions of Py^^""'^ 
it to others. These persons became his vassals and undertook 
towards him the same obligations that he himself had contracted 
toward his own lord. A whole system of fiefs and vassals thus 
arose which may be thought of as pyramid-shaped. The king 



58 THE FEUDAL SYSTEM 

as supreme landlord stood at its apex. The greater and lesser 
lords, down to the holders of a simple fief, formed its successive 
grades. Monasteries frequently appear, under feudal condi- 
tions, both as lords and as tenants of fiefs. Bishops owed feudal 
service for the lands annexed to their ofl&ces, — though spiritu- 
ally minded persons were scandalized at seeing churchmen, clad 
in coats of mail, lead their vassals to battle. Military service,^ 
and the tenure of land on this condition, became the ground 
of a new nobility, the various ranks in which were styled 
marquis, duke, count (or earl), viscount (vl'count), and baron. 
In this feudal pyramid each grade except the lowest had vassals 
and subvassals below it ; each except the king had one or more 
lords above it. 

Below the whole feudal pyramid, and constituting the in- 
dispensable base upon which it rested, were the peasants, 
styled "serfs" and "villeins." They held little plots of ground 
from their lords on condition of manual services and regular 
payments, both of which were regarded as "ignoble." They, 
therefore, are not properly reckoned among the noble or feudal 
classes. The description of the peasants and their mode of 
living will be given in a later chapter (ch. ix). It should here 
be noted, however, that possession of at least a few families of 
villeins was almost a necessity to the feudal lord. It was only 
through their labor that he and his family were fed and clothed, 
and equipped with a castle, steeds, and costly armor. 

B. Feudalism as a Working System 

The theory of the feudal system was comparatively simple, 

but its practice was infinitely complex and confused. The 

61. Break- simple pyramidal relationship just described is far from 

up of state representing the real facts concerning the feudal structure. 

power rjy^^ same man often held fiefs from several different lords 

of different rank, and had vassals under him on each fief. Thus 

the count of Champagne (sham-pan') in the twelfth century held 

fiefs divided into twenty-six districts, each centering in a castle. 



FEUDALISM AS A WORKING SYSTEM 



59 



His lords included the German Emperor, the king of France, 
the duke of Burgundy, two archbishops, two bishops, and an 
abbot, to each of whom he did "homage" and owed "service." ^ 







E^ .^ German Empi 
[ 1 Ki n g of France' 

^ Duke of Burgundy 
yA Archbishop of Rheims 
B^.^'^l Archbishop of Sens 
^ Bishop of Langres 
^ Bishop of AutUQ 
^ Bishop of Auxerre 
^ Abbot of St, Denis 

SEALE OF MILES 



Possessions of the Count oe Champagne, i2th Century 



Portions of his lands and rights he "subinfeudated," on varying 
terms, to more than two thousand vassal knights, some of whom 
were also vassals for other fiefs from his own overlords. 

In the Roman Empire, as also in modern states, all persons in 
the land owed loyalty, obedience, and service directly to the 
head of the state. Feudalism caused an almost complete disap- 

1 The following diagram, together with the map in the text, will serve to illustrate 
the feudal relations of the count of Champagne. The arrow indicates a lord to 
whom homage is done and from whom one or more fiefs are held. 



~^King' of, France 



German Emperor 




Bishop of 
Langres 



Subvassal 

^ Subvassal 



Subvassal' 



6o THE FEUDAL SYSTEM 

pearance of such direct ties, and substituted for them the feudal 
tie, which bound each man only to his immediate lord or lords. 
In a feudal society a man owed scarcely any obligation what- 
ever to those who stood above his lord, not even to the king him- 
self. The feudal principle thus practically destroyed the prin- 
ciple of sovereignty, or the direct authority of the state. Per- 
haps it is better to say that it would have destroyed it, had not 
the state already practically disappeared, through its own weak- 
ness and the external dangers to which it was exposed. 

The tie which bound the feudal group together was one of 
personal contract. It was based (as has been seen) on the 
52. Feudal grant and receipt of land, and was witnessed by the "hom- 
obligations age" done and "fealty" sworn by each vassal to his 
"suzerain," — that is, his lord. By this contract the vassal 
was pledged to render "service" to his lord; the latter was 
bound to "protect" his vassal. The service due was, above all, 
military service — forty days a year, on horseback, at the vas- 
sal's expense, being the customary limit. In addition the 
vassal had to attend his lord's court when summoned, in order 
to aid him with counsel and advice. He was also obliged, when 
accused, to submit himself to the judgment of his fellow vassals 
in his lord's court. Furthermore, the lord might require "aids" 
in money, on certain exceptional occasions : (i) when the lord 
knighted his eldest son ; (2) on the first marriage of his eldest 
daughter; (3) to ransom his person from captivity; and (4) to 
aid him in setting forth on a crusade. On entering upon his 
inheritance, the heir of full age paid a sum called "relief" (con- 
sisting usually of one year's revenue of the fief), did homage and 
fealty, and was then put in possession of his estate. If he was a 
minor, the lord often had the custody of his person and of the 
fief, with the right to take the profits, until the heir became of 
age. Finally, the vassal could not sell or otherwise alienate his 
fief without the lord's consent; and over the marriage of the 
vassal's heir the lord possessed some control. 

It may well be supposed that, in a rude and disorderly age, 
the feudal obligations were but imperfectly observed. Lords 



FEUDALISM AS A WORKING SYSTEM 6 1 

often failed to protect, and sometimes even dishonored their 
vassals. Vassals frequently refused to perform their obliga- 
tions and defied their lords. What remedy did feudalism 63. Reme- 
provide for such cases ? When a vassal failed in the jj^ggch^of 
diseharge of his obligations, he might be convicted of obligation 
"felony," and his fief might be taken away from him. In case 
the lord failed to protect, or otherwise wronged his vassal, 
the latter might appeal to his lord's suzerain. But such a step 
was usually considered too tame or uncertain ; and ordinarily 
feudal disputes were settled by resort to arms. 

An account of the courts and modes of trial of the feudal 
period will make, evident how difficult it must often have been 
to secure justice by peaceful means. The rights of juris- 64. Juris- 
diction which formerly belonged to the state were now jjJo^esof 
possessed by the feudal lords. The trial of cases was trial 
a profitable right, because of the fines and confiscations which it 
brought; and it was for this reason that the right was sought 
after. Like other governmental powers, judicial rights were 
sometimes acquired by usurping them, and sometimes by express 
grant from the crown. In the fully developed feudal system, 
we may think of the right to administer justice in some degree 
as regularly accompanying the possession of feudal land. In 
these feudal courts there was administered feudal law, which 
was a crude outgrowth of the old Germanic customary law. 

In the trial of cases there was no attempt to ascertain the facts 
by examining witnesses and weighing their testimony. The 
modes of trial were mainly three : by oaths (compurgation), 
by ordeal, and by battle. In trial by oaths the person accused 
swore that he was innocent, and produced a number of "oath 
helpers" who swore that they believed his oath to be "clean and 
without guile." In serious cases the ordeal, which was an appeal 
to .the judgment of God, was used. In the ordeal by hot iron the 
accused had to carry a piece of red-hot iron for a certain distance 
in his bare hand. In the ordeal by hot water he had to thrust his 
hand into a kettle of boiling water. In either case the hand was 
then bandaged and sealed up for three days. If the wound 



62 



THE FEUDAL SYSTEM 



6s. Feudal 
warfare 



Luchaire, in 
Munro and 
Sellery, 

Medieval 
Civilization, 
178 (sim- 
plified) 



healed properly, the person was declared innocent. In the cold 
water ordeal the accused was thrown into a stream of water, 

with hands and feet 
tied together. If he 
floated, he was guilty ; 
but if he sank, he was 
innocent and was to 
be rescued. In trial 
by battle, the accuser 
threw down his gaunt- 
let, which was taken 
up by the person ac- 
cused. The judge 
then determined the 
time, place, and 
weapons for the com- 
bat. This form of trial 
also was an appeal to 
the judgment of God, 
for it was supposed 
that He would inter- 
fere to protect the innocent and reveal the guilty. 

Warfare may be said to have given rise not only to the favorite 
mode of trial of the feudal age, but also to its chief amusement, 
the "tournament," of which some account will hereafter 
be given. Even without these regulated or make-believe 
forms of battle, the clash of ill-defined interests, the hatred 
borne to neighbor and stranger, and the military habits of the 
time, made private warfare almost the normal condition 
of the Middle Ages. A brilliant French historian says: 
"War raged not only between suzerains and vassals and 
between the vassals of the same fief, but also in the bosom 
of all the feudal families. The son fought against his 
father, because he could not wait until his father's death 
to enjoy his lands ; younger brothers attacked the elder because 
he was favored at their expense ; nephews waged war on uncles, 




Trial by Battle 
From a isth century MS. 



FEUDALISM AS A WORKING SYSTEM 63 

because these wished to prolong their guardianship unduly, or 
refused to recognize the custom which excluded collateral heirs 
from the inheritance ; and the son took arms against his widowed 
mother, because he disputed her right to a part of her husband's 
estates." 

From the close of the tenth century the church exerted itself 
to check this incessant fighting, and two institutions arose, called 
respectively "the Peace of God" and "the Truce of God." 66. Re- 



strictions on 



By the Peace, warfare upon the church and the weak 
including peasants, merchants, women, and pilgrims — warfare 
was perpetually forbidden in those districts where the Peace was 




Warfare in the Twelfth Century 
From a 12th century MS. 

adopted. By the Truce of God, a cessation of warfare was es- 
tablished for all classes during the period from Wednesday night 
to Monday morning of each week, and in all holy seasons (Lent, 
Advent, Whitsuntide,, etc.). Thus the number of days a year 
on which warfare could be carried on was greatly restricted. 
Violation of the Peace, or of the Truce, was punished by the 
church. In some districts, sworn associations of the nobles and 
clergy, with special courts, treasuries, and armies, were formed 
to punish violations ; but even thus the Peace and Truce were 
but imperfectly observed. 



64 THE FEUDAL SYSTEM 

As governments grew stronger, dukes, kings, and Emperors 
exerted themselves to put down the abuse of private warfare. 
In Normandy, and in England after the Norman conquest 
(1066), the crown enforced peace with a strong hand. In France 
also, by the beginning of the fourteenth century, the king be- 
came strong enough to make progress in this direction. In 
Germany the Emperors early proclaimed the public peace 
(Landfrieden) ; but "robber barons" continued to exist, and 
''fist- right" (the rule of the strongest) prevailed for long 
periods. It was only at the close of the fifteenth century that 
effectual steps were taken to enforce a permanent peace. 

The feudal system, as we have been describing it, took defi- 
nite form in the course of the eighth, ninth, and tenth centuries. 

67. Dura- France was the land of its earliest and most complete devel- 
the^ feudal opment, but in some form it was found in all countries of 
system western Europe. It should be noted that practice often 

conflicted with feudal theory, and that feudal customs varied 
greatly in different regions and at different times. Until the 
end of the thirteenth century, the system flourished with such 
vigor that this epoch may be styled preeminently the Feudal 
Age. In the fourteenth century a transformation set in, by 
which feudalism ultimately ceased to be a political force, and 
became a mere social and economic survival. 

The disadvantages of feudalism as a political system consisted 
in (i) its incessant wars and conflicts, and (2) its neglect of many 

68. Advan- important government functions. Roads, bridges, and 

tages and public improvements of all sorts fell into ruins, and little 

disadvan- ^ .111 

tages of effort was made to repair the old or to construct new ones. 

feudalism There was no organized police ; justice was hard to obtain ; 

and "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" were at the 

mercy of the strong and unscrupulous. Care of the poor, the sick, 

and the orphan, and the many other functions which a modern 

state discharges, were left to the church or remained unattended 

to. The evils of such a system must be sufficiently evident. 

The advantages of feudalism lay chiefly in the fact that it 

supplied a possible form of government at a time when complete 



FEUDALISM AS A WORKING SYSTEM 65 

anarchy threatened. It kept alive the theory of the state and 
of a king who stood above all feudal lords, — no matter how weak 
both were in practice. A basis was thus furnished on which 
later generations could erect strong centralized governments. 
With all its defects, therefore, feudalism served a useful purpose. 
At the time of its origin it seemed almost the only possible 
alternative to complete anarchy. 

The decline of feudalism was due to a number of causes, 
(i) Money, which had practically disappeared from circulation 
during the Germanic invasions, gradually came again into g causes 
use. Military and other services which formerly were of its de- 
paid for by feudal grants of land now began to be paid for ^ °® 
in money. Feudal tenures were slowly transformed into more 
modern forms of landholding. A decrease in the military power 
of the nobles followed, and a loss of their feudal rights and priv- 
ileges. (2) The towns, which at the beginning of the feudal 
period did not exist as organized bodies, gradually arose and 
grew powerful through industry and commerce. The townsmen 
hated the feudal nobles because the latter preyed upon them and 
their cornmerce. Their aid, therefore, together with that of 
the clergy, was lent to restoring the power of the state and to 
breaking down the power of feudalism. (3) Many feudal nobles 
wasted their resources in the crusades (ch. viii) or on tourna- 
ments and lavish living, and thus weakened their defensive 
power. (4) In the fifteenth century changes in methods of war- 
fare made foot soldiers (archers and pikemen) more nearly a 
match for mounted knights. The introduction of gunpowder 
also gave the king a more effective means of attacking feudal 
castles. (5) All these factors increased the power of the 
crown, which was the great opponent of feudalism. Wherever 
kings became strong enough they sought to undermine feudal- 
ism. They did this directly, by prohibiting private warfare, 
limiting castle-building, and otherwise reducing feudal powers. 
They did it indirectly by encouraging subvassals to rebel against 
their lords, and to enter into direct allegiance to the king. From 
the crown alone could come the peace and orderly government 



66 THE FEUDAL SYSTEM 

which clergy, townsmen, and peasants alike demanded. All 
these classes, therefore, aided the growth of the crown at the 
expense of feudalism. 

The overthrow of feudalism as a political power came at dif- 
ferent dates in different countries. Here it needs only to be 
pointed out that feudalism remained a vital force everywhere 
in western Europe, until at least the beginning of the fourteenth 
century ; and that even down to the nineteenth century feudal 
survivals may be traced in the laws and social usages of most 
European countries. 

DEFINITIONS OF FEUDAL TERMS 

^vassal, the free dependent of a lord, bound to render military service in 

return for the lord's protection. 
""benefice or fief, land held by a vassal of his lord, on condition of mihtary 
and other services. 
homage, the act by which a vassal becomes the "man" of his lord. 
■^ fealty, the oath of fidelity taken by a vassal to his lord, 
suzerain, the name given to a lord in relation to his vassal. 
aids, money payments due from vassals when their lord knights his eldest 
son, marries his eldest daughter, ransoms his person from captivity, 
or goes on a crusade. 
relief, the payment made to a lord by the vassal's heir, if of full age, to se- 
cure his inheritance. 
^ wardship, the right of the lord to have the custody of an heir who is not of 
full age, and to receive the profits from the fief during the heir's minority. 
escheat, the right of a lord to receive back a fief when there are no heirs., 
subinfeudation, the process by which a vassal grants away part of his fief 

to one who becomes a subvassal under him. 
primogeniture, the right of the eldest son to succeed to the whole inheritance 

upon his father's death. 
serfs and villeins, peasants who hold lands of their lords on terms of manual 
services (plowing, harrowing, reaping, etc.) on the lord's own estates. 
Their land tenure was not feudal, but servile (that is, not free). 

TOPICS AND REFERENCES 

Suggestive Topics. — (i) How did the weakness of Charlemagne's de- 
scendants aid the development of feudalism? (2) What other things co- 
operated ? (3) Define commendation, vassal, homage, fealty, fief, immu- 
nity. (4) How does a feudal society differ from a modern state as regards 



TOPICS AND REFERENCES 67 

taxation, coining money, administration of justice, maintenance of an army, 
etc. ? (5) What were the chief defects of the modes of trial in the early 
Middle Ages ? (6) Why are such institutions as the Peace and Truce of 
God no longer necessary ? (7) Set down in one column the good features 
of feudalism, and in another its bad ones. 

Search Topics. — (i) Mutual Obligations of Lords and Vassals. 
Munro and SelleTy, Medieval Civilization, 168-170; Seignohos, Feudal Re- 
gime, 41-44; Ogg, Source Book, 220-228; Robinson, Readings in European 
History, I, 184-185. — (2) Ceremony of Homage and Fealty. Ogg, 
Source Book, 216-219 ; Robinson, Readings in European History, I, 179-184. 
— (3) Non-European Feudalism (Japan). Encyclopedia Britannica (nth 
ed.), XV, 258-266; Okuma, Fifty Years of New Japan, I, 23-42. — 
(4) Private Warfare. Munro and Sellery, Medieval Civilization, 177- 
182 ; Seignobos, Feudal Regime, 56-57. — (5) The Peace and Truce of God. 
Encyclopedia Britannica (nth ed.), XXVII, 321; Ogg, Source Book, 228- 
232; Robinson, Readings in European History, I, 194-196.^ — (6) Women 
AND Children in the Feudal Regime. Seignobos, Feudal Regime, 44- 
46. — (7) Trial by Ordeal. Encyclopedia Britannica (nth ed.), XX, 
i73~i7S; Ogg, Source Book, 196-202; Thatcher and M^cNtaX, Source Book, 
400-410. — (8) Trial by Battle. Seignobos, Feudal Regime, 62 ; Ency- 
clopedia Britannica, " Wager of Battle"; Seignobos, Medieval and Modern 
Civilization, 83-84. 

General Reading. — The best brief accounts of the origin of feudalism are 
in Emerton, Introduction to the Middle Ages, Adams, Civilization during 
the Middle A ges, Andrews, Institutes of General History. Feudalism as an 
institution may best be studied in Seignobos, The Feudal Regime. Valuable 
illustrative documents are given in the source books prepared by Ogg and 
•by Thatcher and McNeal, and also by Cheyney in the University of Penn- 
sylvania Translations and Reprints, IV, No. 3. Pollock and Maitland, 
History of the English Law, give an extended account of English feudalism, 
but this is too technical for high school pupils. For the teacher who reads 
French, the best accounts are in Esmein, Cours Elementaire d'Histoire du 
Droit Franqaise, and Luchaire, Manuel des Institutions Franqaises. The 
older accounts, given by Guizot and Hallam, are misleading. 



CHAPTER IV 

THE NORMAN CONQUESTS 

A. The Normans at Home and in Italy 

When Rolf and his Northmen were granted lands in western 

France, in 911 (§45), no one dreamed that within little more 

The than a hundred years the descendants of these fierce pagans 

Normans at would develop into one of the most civilized peoples of 

™® western Europe. It is to the story of how this came to 

pass that we must now give our attention. 

The name "Normans," by which this people is known in 
France, is merely a softened form of the word Northmen. In 
their later, as in their earlier, history they showed a remarkable 
spirit of war and adventure. In other respects, however, the 
Normans differed profoundly from the Northmen, and in usage 
the two names should be carefully distinguished. 

Rolf and the Norman dukes who followed him were men of 
much ability. Under their rule Normandy became a feudal prin- 
cipality. It differed from the other fiefs of northern France, how^" 
ever, (i) in the ability with which it was governed, (2) in the 
greater attention which was given to learning and architecture, 
and (3) in the hardy and adventurous character of its inhabit- 
Dudo His- ^^ts. "O France," exclaims a historian of the eleventh 
lory of the ccutury, " thou wast bowed down, crushed to earth. Be- 
ormans hold, there comes to thee from Denmark a new race. That 
race shall raise thy name and thy empire, even unto the 
heavens ! " In the Norman conquest of England and of southern 
Italy, in the leading part which the Normans played in the cru- 
sades, and in the hardy character of their seamen to the end of 
the Middle Ages, evidences of their superior vigor and daring 
were abundantly given. 



THE NORMANS IN ITALY 



69 



Since the days of Charlemagne, the East-Roman (Byzan- 
tine) or Greek Empire had preserved an uncertain foothold in 
southern Italy. Its sway was threatened by the growth 71- Greeks 
of feudal lordships, by the pretensions of German- kings, ^ens in"^^' 
and by Saracen (Mohammedan) invasions. Sicily since Italy 
878 had been almost wholly Mohammedan. In the first half 
of the ninth century, Saracens had gained a footing in southern 
Italy also. Though they were temporarily dislodged, no per- 
manent relief could be hoped for while the neighboring lands 
were in their hands. 

It was this situation in the rich and fertile South which gave 
Norman adventurers their first opportunity for further conquest. 
While making a religious pilgrimage to a famous shrine 72- Begin- 
in southern Italy, some Norman warriors were enlisted '""f ° 

•' ' man con- 

in a petty war between two Christian princes (10 17), quests there 

and thus discovered the weakness of the land. Soon other 
Normans flocked thither to take service under different princes 
and nobles, selling their swords to the highest bidders. Pres- 
ently they began to establish a power of their own; and in 
107 1 they took Bari 
(ba're), the last pos- 
session of the Greek 
governors in Italy. 

In these conquests 
five of the twelve sons 
of a poor Norman 
noble played principal 
parts. The fourth 
son, Robert Guiscard 
(ges-car'; which means 
"the cunning"), 
made the greatest 
name for himself. 
The daughter of the 

Greek Emperor described him as he appeared to his enemies : 
"His high stature excelled that of the most mighty warriors. 




v^-J^^^^Si^^^/^/^f^^<s'~^ I-- -■■ ■ I Conquered from 

<^M^M/////m^M % L__J Eastern Empire 

^^^'''^/^f^^^ "^ ^^^^ Conquered from 

■^^^^^W^ ^^^^ . ^^^^^^ Princes 

^O^^^^^^^y^ W^^^^ Conquered from 

■<^y//^^^f ^y^'/'^d Mohammedans 

'^'^^^ SCALE OF MILES 



Norman Conquests in Italy 



70 THE NORMAN CONQUESTS 

His complexion was ruddy, his hair fair, his shoulders broad, 
his eyes flashed fire. It is said that his voice was like the 
voice of a whole multitude, and could put to flight an army of 
sixty thousand men." Like all the Normans, he was a cruel 
conqueror, and to this day ruined cities bear witness to his 
ferocity. Before Robert Guiscard died (in 1085) almost all 
southern Italy acknowledged him as lord. The conquests of 
Roger, the youngest of the family, were equally remarkable. 
On the invitation of discontented Christians he landed in 
Sicily ; and after thirty years of untiring warfare he succeeded 
in conquering the last of that island from its Saracen rulers. 

One of the distinguishing traits of the Normans, and one which 
was of great value to them as rulers, was the ability which they 

73. The showed to adapt themselves to new conditions; another 
SicUv""^ ° ^^^ their willingness to let the people over whom they 
founded ruled keep their own language, laws, customs, and beliefs. 

These qualities were strikingly displayed in their new conquests. 
On the ruins of Greek, Lombard, and Saracen power, they erected 
a strong feudal state. The claims of Pope and Emperor over 
these lands led to some unavoidable friction and conflict. In 
the end, the Norman rule, under the title of the kingdom of 
Sicily, was formally recognized by the Pope ; he insisted, how- 
ever, that the kingdom be held as a fief of the papacy (1135). 
The new kingdom lasted, with some changes of rulers, until 
the formation of the present kingdom of Italy in the nineteenth 
century. One result of the establishing of the Normans as the 
ruling race in southern Italy was to facilitate the clearing of 
the central Mediterranean of its Mohammedan pirates, 

B. The Norman Conquest of England 

At the same time that Norman nobles were winning dominions 

74. England in Italy and Sicily, their duke was extending his power 
after Alfred Qygj- England. We have seen that after Alfred's death, 

in 900, his son and grandsons reconquered the Danelaw. 
Early in the eleventh century, — as a result of the weakness 



THE NORMAN CONQUEST OF ENGLAND 71 

and folly of the English king and the strengthening of Scan- 
dinavian power through the organization of the kingdoms of 
Norway, Sweden, and Denmark, — the invasions of the Danes 
were renewed. In 1016 Canute (ca-nut'), king of Denmark 
and Norway, brought all England under his sway. He was a 
just and Christian king, and ruled his English kingdom with 
the same strength and wisdom that he bestowed on his Scan- 
dinavian realms. 

Soon after Canute's death the old English line of kings was 
restored in the person of Edward the Confessor (1042-1066), 
who was so called because of his piety. Edward proved 75- Edward 
a feeble ruler. He had been reared at the Norman court, ^^ (xoa2-~ 
where ways of life were less rude than in England; .and 1066) 
the favor which he showed to Normans and Frenchmen angered 
his English subjects. His reign was filled with quarrels between 
his Norman favorites and the English, and with rebellions of his 
great nobles, or earls. When he died without children, in 1066, 
Earl Harold, the most powerful and capable man in the kingdom, 
succeeded him on the throne. Duke William of Normandy, 
however, had claims to the English kingship, and at once pre- 
pared to invade England. 

William the Conqueror, as he is known in history, was the 
sixth duke of Normandy in descent from Rolf. He was only 
seven years of age when his father died on a pilgrimage 76. Duke 
to Palestine, and the minority of the young duke was one -j^j^g™ 
long struggle against his Norman barons. With the aid England 
of the French king, William at last crushed his enemies, and then 
built up a military power which made Normandy one of the 
strongest governments of Europe. His claim to the throne of 
England was based on a promise from Edward the Confessor, 
who was his father's cousin, that the English crown should de- 
scend to him. In addition he had extorted from Earl Harold 
an oath to support this claim, when the latter was shipwrecked 
on the coast of Normandy. Though his claims were little more 
than pretexts, William landed an army, in September, 1066, on 
the south coast of England. Harold had been called to the 



72' 



THE NORMAN CONQUESTS 



north to repel an invasion by the king of Norway, and returned 
too late to prevent William's landing. The earls of the northern 




Ships of William the Conqueror 
From tapestry made in England for William's brother, Odo of Bayeux 

counties treacherously refused Harold aid, and he was forced to 

meet the Normans with only his own troops. 

The battle took place on a ridge near the town of Hastings. 

The strength of the English consisted in their mailed footmen 
^ Bittle a-rmed with the battle-ax, while that of the Normans lay 
of Hastings in their archers and mounted men at arms. Two different 
^^° ' modes of warfare were contending, as well as two peoples 

and two civilizations. The battle raged all day, and for a long 

time the issue was in doubt. In spite of their heavy horsemen, 




Death of Harold 
From the Bayeux Tapestry. Harold is the second figure from the left. 



THE NORMAN CONQUEST OF ENGLAND 73 

the Normans were unable to break the English line. Three 
horses were killed under William, but he received no injury. 
Once the cry went forth, " The duke is down ! " and the Normans 
began to give way. But William tore off his helmet, that they 
might better see his face, and cried : "I live, and by God's help 
shall have the victory ! " To draw the English from their strong 
position, William ordered a portion of his troops to pretend to 
flee. This ruse was partly successful, but still the "shield 
wall" of Harold's guard held firm. At last an arrow 'struck 
Harold in the eye, piercing to the brain. With their heroic 
leader gone, the English army was soon destroyed (October 14, 
1066). There was no English leader left to take Harold's 
place. Soon William was formally chosen king, and was 
crowned at Westminster, near London, on Christmas Day, 1066. 
Every English king or queen who has reignfed since then has 
been a descendant of this Norman conqueror. 

Before taking up the far-reaching effects of the Norman con- 
quest, we must consider the government and institutions of 
the English kingdom before the coming of the Normans. 78. English 

The unit of local government was the township. Ordi- government: 

., , . .„ • 1 • T 1 1 T^ township, 

narily this was a village, with its surrounding lands. By hundred, 

the time of the Norman conquest its inhabitants were ^^^ shire 
usually under the rule of some local noble, and were sinking 
into a condition similar to that of the villeins of the Continent. 
A number of townships were grouped to form the next higher 
division, called the hundred} Each hundred had its monthly 
"moot," or court. To this came the lords of the lands within 
the hundred, either in person or by their stewards. With them 
came also the parish priest, the "reeve" (village head), and the 
"four best men" of each township. This body was the most im- 
portant local court for the trial of both civil and criminal cases. 
The hundreds, in turn, were grouped into about forty shires, 

^ It is uncertain whether this district was first called a " hundred " from the 
amount of land which it contained, the number oi families which settled it, or the 
number of warriors it supplied to the army. In the state of Delaware certain local 
districts still bear this old English name. 



74 THE NORMAN CONQUESTS 

or counties (as the Normans called them). Some of these (for 
example, Kent, Sussex, Essex) had in earlier days been independ- 
ent kingdoms. The shire-moot, or shire-court, was called to- 
gether twice a year by the "shire-reeve" (sheriff), who repre- 
sented the authority of the king in the shire. Its presiding 
officers were the earl, or head of the shire, who was always a 
powerful noble of the district, and the bishop, whose diocese 
often corresponded closely to the territory of the county. The 
shire-court was made up of the landowners of the shire, and of 
representatives of the hundreds and townships. In this court 
all cases not disposed of in the hundred-courts were tried, and 
here also were settled many questions relating to the govern- 
ment of the district. 

These local courts were an important means in training the 
mass of the English people in self-government. In the words 
of a modern English statesman, they are "the cradle of our 
liberties, in which are to be found the origin of our juries and 
the model of our parliaments." 

The local institutions described above were continued by 
William the Conqueror and his successors with little change. 

79. Central The Norman genius for organization, however, bound all 
steenTt™-^" parts of the kingdom more closely together, and established 
ened at the head of the state a central government which was 

strong enough to keep the turbulent nobles in check and to 
secure protection and justice to all subjects. This is one of the 
first instances of a strong central government under which local 
self-government was not destroyed. 

As we have seen in an earlier section, Normandy by 1066 was 
completely feudalized. In England feudalism had developed 

80. Feudal much more slowly than on the Continent, but in the 
system in reigns of Edward the Confessor and Harold we can already 

^^^^ trace its effects. The Norman conquerors brought with 

them a full-grown feudal system, which they proceeded to es- 
tablish in England. The property of those who fought against 
William at Hastings was treated as forfeited, and was either 
granted to new holders or confirmed to the old ones on the pay- 



THE NORMAN CONQUEST OF ENGLAND 



75 



ment of heavy fines. In either event the tenure established was 
a feudal one, conditioned on the performance of military service, 
with all the "feudal incidents" of relief, aids, wardship, and 
marriage rights. 

William, however, took pains to see that in England feudalism 
should not become the menace to the crown that it was in 
France. An oath of allegiance to the king, taking precedence 
of the fealty due to feudal lords, was demanded from all freemen. 
Of this an old chronicler says : "There came to him all the land- 
owning men there were over all England, and all bowed down 
before him and became his men, and swore oaths of fealty ^^ ^^ e^ 
to him, that they would be faithful to him against all Chronicle, 

other men." The result ^^^^ ^°8s 
of this was that, if a lord was 
disloyal to the king, his vas- 
sals were bound to fight 
against their lord and for the 
king. The Conqueror, more- 
over, continued the old Anglo- 
Saxon national militia, as well 
as the old assemblies of the 
people, as a check on the 
power of the lords. It also 
happened that the lands 
granted his Norman follow- 
ers, however extensive they 
might be, were widely scat- 
tered, and not in compact 
blocks, as they were in France. 
This fact made it more diffi- 
cult than in France for a 
great lord to gather men to 
make war upon the king. 
In addition to the intro- 
duction of the feudal system and the strengthening of the 
monarchy, the Norman conquest had other important re- 




Statue of William the Conqueror 
At Falaise, his birthplace 



^6 THE NORMAN CONQUESTS 

suits for England. The insular position of that country had 

thus far kept it out of the main current of European develop- 

8i Oth°r ment. Now, for several generations, the kings of Eng- 

results of land were also dukes of Normandy, and consequently 

t e conquest ^^ggg^j^g ^f ^]^g j^j^g Qf France. Thus, both for good and 

for evil, England was drawn into the conflicts of European 
politics. The Normans, moreover, brought with them to Eng- 
land their language (the Norman-French), their architecture, 
and their customs, which in many ways were more refined than 
those of the English. In the course of the next three centuries, 
the English and Normans in England united into a single na- 
tional stock. The Anglo-Saxon tongue of the common people, 
the Norman-French of the nobles, and the Latin of the church 
and the royal law courts in time blended to form the English 
language as we find it in the works of Chaucer and Shakespeare. 
The victory of the Normans was a turning point in English 
history. Britons, Romans, English, Danes, and Normans, — 
all made their conquests and left their successive impressions on 
the life of the island. This, however, was to be the last of the 
invasions. Never afterward did a foreign foe take possession of 
English soil. Thenceforth, what England was to be was deter- 
mined not by any outside power, but by its own inhabitants. 

IMPORTANT DATES 

ioi6. Canute, King of Denmark, conquers England. 
1017. Norman conquest of southern Italy begun. 
1042. Edward the Confessor secures the throne in England. 
1066. Death of Edward; battle of Hastings; William, Duke of Nor- 
mandy, conquers England. 

TOPICS AND REFERENCES 

Suggestive Topics. — (i) Compare the rapid progress of the Normans in 
France with the progress of the Franks and Enghsh after their settlement in 
Gaul and in Britain. (2) What things aided the Norman conquest of Sicily 
and southern Italy ? (3) How did the coming of the Normans enlarge the 
Pope's power over southern Italy and Sicily ? (4) What things aided the 
Norman conquest of England? (5) Was William's claim to the Enghsh 
throne just or unjust ? Why ? (6) Why is the battle of Hastings consid- 



THE NORMAN CONQUEST OF ENGLAND 77 

ered one of the decisive battles in the history of the world? (7) What 
features of our local government can be traced back to ancient England? 
(8) Was the Norman conquest a good or a bad thing for England ? Why ? 

Search Topics. — (i) The Normans in France. Green, Short History, 
71-74; Tout, Empire and Papacy, 83-84; Encyclopedia Britannica (nth 
ed.), "Normans." — (2) Sicily and Southern Italy before the Nor- 
man Conquest. Crawford, Rulers of the South, II, 70-124. — (3) Rob- 
ert GuiscARD and the Normans in Italy. Gibbon, Decline and Fall 
(Bury's ed.), VI, 184-193; Thatcher and Schwill, Europe in the Middle 
Age, 210-214; Tout, Empire and Papacy, 106-108, 114, 117-118. — 
(4) England on the Eve of the Norman Conquest. Green, Short 
History, 63-70. See also histories of England, by Gardiner, Tout, Ransom, 
and Oman. — (5) Early Life of William the Conqueror. Freeman, Wil- 
liam the Conqueror, ch. ii. — (6) Claims of William to the English Throne. 
Freeman, William the Conqueror, chs. iii, v, vi ; Terry, History of England, 131- 
136 ; Green, Short History, 77-78 ; Cheyney, Readings, 90-92. — (7) Battle 
OF Hastings. Ogg, Source Book, 233-241 ; Che}mey, Readings, 93-101 ; 
Traill, Social England, I, 299-300; Oman, Art of War, 150-164. — 
(8) Government of England before the Norman Conquest. Mon- 
tague, Elements of English Constitutional History, ch. ii; Cheyney, Short 
History, 78-83; Walker, Essentials in English History, 55-61. — (g) Com- 
parison OF Feudalism in England and on the Continent. 
Green, Short History, 83-87 ; Montague, Elements of English Constitutional 
History, ch. iv. — • (10) Effect of the Norman Conquest on the English 
Language. Lounsbury, English Langtmge, ch. iv, v ; Halleck, History of 
English Literature, 48-56. — (11) Character and Personality of Wii^ 
LIAM. Green, Short History, 74-77; Ogg, Source Book, 241-244; Cheyney, 
Readings in English History, 107-108. 

General Reading. — ^For the Normans in France and the Norman con- 
quest of England, see Freeman's William I, Short History of the Norman Con- 
quest, and his monumental Norman Conquest of England (6 vols.) . For the 
Normans in Italy read Freeman's Historical Essays, Series III ("The Nor- 
mans at Palermo"), and Crawford's Rulers of the South. 



I 1 Catholic Christian Church 

' ' in time of Pope Gregory J. 

6'90-C04. 

I 1 Old Celtic Christian 

' ' Church. 

I LoBt'to Mohammedaniam 
bySU. 

I I Conver.ted-to Christianity 
' ' iy 814. 





gs 



CHAPTER V 

THE MEDIEVAL CHURCH 

A. Some General Features 

The church as we find it in the history of the Middle Ages 
means especially the Latin or Roman Catholic Church. The 
Greek Church, however, continued, to hold sway in eastern 82. Separa- 
Europe. Differences of language and civilization between andLatiiT* 
the East and the West, together with the political disputes churches 
which have been touched upon in dealing with the rise of the 
papacy (§ 20) , had early paved the way for a breach between the 
two churches. In religious usages there were some minor dif- 
ferences, such as the time of keeping Easter. There was also a 
dispute as to the validity of a change which the West had made 
in the wording of the creed adopted by the whole church at 
Nicae'a in 325. Above all, the Greeks refused to recognize the 
supremacy which the Pope claimed over the church. . As a result 
of long-continued disputes, the Pope and the Patriarch of Con- 
stantinople (the head of the Eastern Church) excommunicated 
each other in 1054. Thenceforth members of the two churches 
looked upon each other as "heretics." Many efforts have since 
been made to heal the breach ; but to the present time the two 
churches remain separate and mutually hostile. 

The unbroken rule of the church over the lives and spirits 
of men, down to the time of the Reformation, is one of the most 
striking features of the Middle Ages. It is difficult for g po^gr 
us to realize how extensive and absolute that rule of the Latin 
was. In all western Europe there was but one church, ""^^ 
ruled over by the Pope at Rome. This was not a mere vol- 
untary association, concerned only with man's spiritual and 

79 



8o THE MEDIEVAL CHURCH 

moral welfare; it was rather a state within the state. Or perhaps 
it may better be described as a great international state, whose 
territory included all western Christendom, and whose claims 
and jurisdictions crossed and conflicted with those of temporal 
governments. A recent legal writer says of the medieval 
church: "It has laws, lawmakers, law courts, lawyers. It 
Maitland, uses physical force to compel men to obey its laws. It 
Canon Law J^eeps prisons. In the thirteenth century, though with 
ICX5 (con- ' squeamish phrases, it pronounces sentence of death. It is 
densed) no Voluntary society. If people are not born into it, they 

are baptized into it when they cannot help themselves. If they 
attempt to leave it, they are guilty of the crime of treason, and 
are likely to be burned. It is supported by involuntary con- 
tributions, by tithe and tax." 

Some of the special features which distinguish the medieval 
84. Special church from modern religious societies may be summed 
features of up as follows : — 
e c urc ^^-^ j^^ universality. The whole Christian population 

was obliged to belong to it, just as to-day every one must be- 
long to the state under which he lives. 

(2) Its much greater wealth. Through gifts from pious or 
conscience-stricken individuals, and the industry of the monks, 
it became the greatest proprietor of land in Europe, owning 
probably one third of the soil suitable for cultivation. 

(3) Its power in temporal matters. Church law and church 
courts decided cases relating to marriage, divorce, inheritance 
under wills, contracts made binding by oaths, etc. In addition, 
the church claimed the right to try all cases which involved 
clergymen, even accusations of crime against them. All cases 
which concerned persons under the special protection of the 
church, — such as students, crusaders, widows, and orphans, — 
were also triable in the church courts. 

(4) Its power of coercion through excommunication and interdict. 
Excommunication cut off an offending person from the hope of 
heaven by excluding him from the fellowship of the church ; it 
also made him practically an outlaw from society. "By virtue 



SOME GENERAL FEATURES 



of the divine authority conferred on the bishops by Saint Peter," 

reads one excommunication, "we cast him out from the bosom of 

our Holy Mother Church. Let him be accursed in his town, 

p^ accursed in his field, accursed in his home. Let 

no Christian speak to him or eat with him ; let 

y no priest say mass for him, nor give him the 

communion ; let him be buried like the ass. And 

as these torches cast 
down by our hands 
are about to be extin- 
guished, so may the 
light of his life be ex- 
tinguished, unless he 
repent and give satis- 
faction by his devo- 
tion." Excommunica- 
tion applied to persons, 
the interdict to territo- 
ries. The chief use of 
the interdict was to 
force disobedient rulers 
to submit to the church 
through fear of rebel- 
lion of their subjects. In time of interdict church 
doors were closed, the bells silenced, and the 
(N'f /^\\ people of the district left without the consola- 
\^^^^}^ tions of religion. Marriages could not be cele- 
brated, and even the dead were buried without 
ceremony in unhallowed ground. 

These great powers of the church were exer- 
cised exclusively by the clergy, — that is, the 
priests and other officers of the church. They were set g ^. 
off sharply from the laity, as the rest of the Christian clergy as 
community was called. The one class was likened to the ^"^ °''*^®'" 
soul, and the other to the body of a man ; and churchmen 
taught that "'the least of the priestly order is worthier than 




rmt 



82 THE MEDIEVAL CHURCH 

any king." To the clergy alone were committed the carrying 
on of the worship of the church, the administration of its sac- 
raments, and the government and discipline of the Christian 
community. 

The ceremony of "tonsure" marked the entrance of the can- 
didate into the ranks of the clergy. In the Greek Church this 
meant shaving the hair from the whole head. In the Roman 
or Latin Church only the top of the head was shaved, leaving a 
narrow fringe of hair all around, — in memory, it was said, of 
Christ's crown of thorns. In addition to this distinctive mark 
(which was periodically renewed), the clergy wore garments of 
peculiar cut, distinguishing them from the laity and one rank 
from another. That they might serve God with more singleness 
of purpose, it was ordered in the Latin Church, from the fourth 
century on, that priests and the higher clergy should be "celi- 
bate," — that is, should not marry. In the Greek Church the 
practice of celibacy was generally confined to the monks. Even 
in the Latin Church several centuries passed before it became 
universal. In order that the clergy might be free in performing 
their religious duties, they secured the privilege of not being tried 
by the secular law and the secular courts. Thereafter clergymen 
were only under the church or "canon" law, and could be tried 
only by ecclesiastical courts. This privilege, which was known 
as "benefit of clergy," crept sooner or later into the laws of every 
nation of western Europe. Its evils were seen when persons 
who had no intention of becoming priests became clerics, or 
clerks, merely that they might secure protection in their mis- 
deeds.^ 

In what has been said already concerning the power of the 
clergy, we have dwelt more upon the externals of their position. 

1 There were a number of minor grades among the clergy, below the ranks of 
priests, deacons, and subdeacons, who alone constituted the "major orders." The 
author of a twelfth-century textbook defines these minor grades as "doorkeepers, 
readers, exorcists [casters out of devils], and acolytes." The modem business 
meaning of the word "clerk" comes from the fact that the clergy were long the only 
educated class, and hence a cleric (clerk) was employed for all work involving writing 
and the keeping of accounts. 



SOME GENERAL FEATURES 



The real power of the clergy, as shown by the sway which they 
held over the minds of men, rested upon the position of the 
priest as divinely appointed mediator between God and man, 86. The sac- 
and as the authoritative teacher in matters of faith and raments 

morals. In the 
teaching of the 
church, the "sacra- 
ments" were recog- 
nized as the ordi- 
nary channels of di- 
vine grace; that 
is, they were the 
means through which 
Christ ' s " vicarious 
atonement" on the 
cross was applied to 
the needs of the 
individual soul. 
Without this atone- 
ment man could not 
be saved from the 
consequences of his 
sinful nature, and 
after death must suf- 
fer eternally the 
punishments of hell. 
These sacraments 
(with the exception 
of baptism and mat- 
rimony) the clergy 
only could validly 
administer. 

The sacraments 
were seven in num- 
ber, (i) In the sacrament of Baptism the child (or adult) was 
made a member of the Christian community. (2) Confirmation 




Three Sacraments : Ordination, Marriage, 
Extreme Unction 

Part of a triptych painted in the 14th century ; 
Antwerp Museum 



84 THE MEDIEVAL CHURCH 

admitted him into full church fellowship. (3) In the Holy 
Eucharist (or Lord's Supper), administered in the service called 
the " mass," the spirit of the participant was strengthened by the 
reception of the body and blood of the Savior, under the forms of 
the bread and wine. (4) Penance included confession to the priest 
at least once a year, the performance of various acts to test the 
reaHty of repentance, and absolution by the priest from the 
guilt of sin. (5) Extreme Unction was the anointing with oil 
of those about to die; it strengthened the soul for its dark 
journey and cleansed it from the remainder of venial sins. 
(6) Ordination was the rite whereby one was made a member 
of the various grades of the clergy. (7) Matrimony was the 
sacrament by which a Christian man and woman were joined in 
lawful marriage. 

The theory underlying this whole system was that the sac- 
raments derived their force from the power which Christ gave 
the Apostles, and which they transmitted to their successors 
through the sacrament of ordination. 

With the growth of the church in organization, its worship 
assumed definite form. Latin was the language of the West 
87. Church at the time that Christianity was introduced ; so it be- 
and wor- came, and has remained, the language of the Roman 
ship Catholic Church. In many regions, however, portions of 

the service, as well as sermons, were given in the language of 
the people. The chief place in the service was given to the 
celebration of the "mass," or Lord's Supper. In the twelfth 
century the term " transubstantiation " was introduced to des- 
ignate precisely that the substance of the bread and the sub- 
stance of the wine were changed into the substance of the physi- 
cal body and blood of Christ, while retaining the color, taste, 
and other physical properties of bread and wine. The same wor- 
ship and reverence was then given to the consecrated bread, or 
host, as to God Himself. The spiritual benefits of the mass were 
available not only for those on earth, but also for departed souls 
undergoing purification for sins in purgatory. Men often gave 
sums of money or other valuable property to the church, to pay 



THE CHURCH ORGANIZATION 85 

for the performance of masses for the benefit of dead friends, 
or for themselves after death. 

From the honors which were early shown to the memory of 
the martyrs arose the practice of venerating the saints, whose 
intercession was asked both for the living and for the dead. The 
chief of the saints was the Virgin Mary, who was venerated as 
the Mother of God. Countless churches were dedicated to her, 
and her aid and intercession were invoked in every need. Bones 
of martyrs, pieces of the cross on which Christ was crucified, and 
similar relics were sought out, cherished, and venerated, and 
made to work miracles of healing. 

Christmas, Easter, and a number of other church festivals 
were celebrated with processions, and with a pomp and splendor 
of ceremonial which appealed powerfully to the popular imagina- 
tion. Rude dramatizations of the Incarnation and Redemption 
were presented; and from these, and from "miracle plays" 
and "moralities," the modern drama was developed. 

Preaching played a less prominent part in medieval religion 
than it does to-day, though from time to time great preachers 
arose to preach a crusade or a moral reformation. The parish 
priests, because of the great cost of hand-written books and the 
lack of schools, were usually poorly educated^ and refrained from 
preaching. 

B. The Church Organization 

To carry on the great work of the church, officers of various 
ranks were necessary. The whole of western Christendom was 
divided into "parishes," each consisting usually of a single 88. Parish 
village or of a definite part of a town ; and each of these priests 
had its parish church presided over by the parish priest. The 
priest was appointed by the bishop ; but laymen who gave lands 
to found the churches usually reserved to themselves and their 
successors the right of "patronage," that is, of deciding who 
should be appointed. The priest brought the church most 
closely home to the lives of his parishioners. He conducted 
services, heard confessions, granted absolution, and baptized, 




86 



THE CHURCH ORGANIZATION 



87 



married, and buried the folk of his parish. "The priest was the 
leader in the parish, and the churches were the gathering j^^^j^j.^ 
places not only for religious services but also for social Middle Ages, 
diversions. Sunday was the holiday for the hard-working ^^ 
population, and it was spent in or near the church. In addition 
to the religious services, which all attended, the priest would 
read to the people letters from the absent — especially during 
the time of the crusades — and would announce any news that 
he had heard. Often between the morning and evening services 
there were games or other amusements." 

The parishes were grouped into "dioceses," each under the 
bishop of that "see," or bishopric. The word "bishop" {epi- 
scopus) means "overseer," and it aptly characterized his g Bishops 
functions. He watched over the work of the diocese, and arch- 
visited and disciplined the clergy, consecrated churches, ^^ °^^ 
and administered the sacraments of confirmation and ordination. 
The church over which he him- 
self presided was called a "cathe- 
dral, " and was usually the largest, 
finest, and most richly adorned 
in the diocese. The "tithe," or 
church due of one tenth of all 
the produce of the soil, was paid 
to his agents, and by him appor- 
tioned among the parishes. He 
presided in person or by deputy 
over the ecclesiastical court of the 
diocese, to which all the clergy, 
and laymen in many kinds of 
cases, were subject. His power 
over both clergy and people was 
very great ; for, by virtue of the 
large estates which he held on 

feudal tenure, he was often a ter- 

, Bishop on Throne 

ntorial prince as well as a high ^ , . . , 

„ r 1 1 1 ^11 From a i3tn century ivory m the 

officer 01 the church. Closely as- Louvre 




88 THE MEDIEVAL CHURCH 

sociated with the bishop in conducting the cathedral services 
and in administering the affairs of the diocese, were a body of 
clergy called "canons," and known collectively as the "cathedral 
chapter," whose function it was to elect the bishop when a 
vacancy occurred. 

The dioceses were grouped together into "provinces," over 
each of which was an archbishop. In addition to his powers 
and duties as bishop of one of the dioceses, the archbishop 
supervised the work of the church throughout his province. 
His special mark of distinction was the "pallium," which the 
Pope alone could confer. This was a narrow band of white 
wool, worn loosely around the neck. The archbishop's cathedral 
was usually in the most important city of the province, so he 
was spoken of as the "metropolitan." In each country there 
was a tendency for some one archbishop to gain preeminence 
over the others, and be recognized as "primate." Thus the 
archbishop of Canterbury was primate of all England, while 
the archbishops of Rheims (remz) and Mainz (mints) claimed 
preeminence respectively in France and Germany. 

At the head of the whole great system of the church stood the 

papacy. Many causes had contributed to make the bishop 

00. The °^ Rome the "universal overseer," or head of the Latin 

Pope and Church. Among these were (i) the political importance 

s powers ^£ Rome, (2) the wealth of the church there, (3) the ability 

and moderation which its bishops showed in doctrinal disputes, 

and (4) the martyrdom and burial at Rome of Saint Peter and 

Saint Paul. Most important of all, the Pope's headship rested 

upon (5) the belief that Peter had been made by Christ the chief 

of the Apostles, and given "the power of the keys," that is, the 

power "to bind and to loose." ^ Peter was regarded as the 

founder of the bishopric of Rome, and the power given him by 

Christ he was held to have transmitted to his successors. The 

1 "And I say also unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build 
my church ; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto 
thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven : and whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth 
shall be bound in heaven ; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed 
in heaven." — Matthew, xvi, 18-19. 



THE CHURCH ORGANIZATION 89 

extent of the powers which the Pope claimed will be made 
evident in chapters which follow. Here we need only sketch in 
outline his chief functions : — 

(i) The Pope was the supreme lawgiver of the church, his 
edicts being issued in the form of ''bulls" (so called from the 
bulla or seal attached) and "decretals." The chief textbook of 
canon law in the Middle Ages declared that the Popes "are 
above all the laws of the church, and can use them according 
to their wish." Accordingly, we not only find the Pope making 
new laws as occasion demands, but also by his dispensations 
annulling the law of the church in particular cases, — for example, 
permitting cousins to marry, or freeing monks from their vows. 

(2) He was the supreme judge of the church, for on one ground 
or another almost any case which arose in western Europe might 
be carried on appeal to his court at Rome. "The Popes alone 
judge," says the textbook of canon law quoted above, "and 
they cannot be judged by any one." Appeals involved the 
parties in vexatious journeys to Rome, large court fees, and 
long delays. Great inconveniences, and frequently a defeat 
of justice, were some of the results of this system. 

(3) As supreme administrator of the church, the Pope could set 
aside local rights of election or appointment, and himself appoint 
to the bishoprics and other rich "livings" in the church. Ulti- 
mately the practice arose of demanding, under the name of 
annates, a year's revenue from each appointee to a bishopric, as 
the price of confirming him in his office. 

(4) The Pope appointed 7>a_/?a/ legates to represent him at the 
various courts of Europe, to open and preside over councils, 
and to discharge other missions. Through these important 
agents the Pope's power was brought into every corner of 
western Christendom. 

(5) As the supreme guardian of the faith and morals of western 
Christendom, the Pope fulfilled his loftiest function. When all 
deductions have been made, it must be admitted that, in „, n 

' ' Walker, 

the language of a Protestant historian, " the papacy as The Refor- 
a whole showed more of enlightenment, moral purpose, and ^^^^''^> s 



90 THE MEDIEVAL CHURCH 

political 'wisdom than any succession of kings and emperors 
that medieval Europe knew." Popes often acted as pro- 
tectors of the poor and the weak against the mighty. Kings 
and princes were excommunicated and threatened with deposi- 
tion because of their sins and oppressions. A noted case was 
that of a great-grandson of Charlemagne, who had divorced 
his queen and married again, contrary to the teachings of the 
church and the Pope's command. After prolonged resistance 
he was compelled to put away his second wife, take back his 
injured queen, and recognize the Pope's authority. 

(6) Finally, the Pope was the ruler of a principality in Italy 
called the Papal States, over which he exercised all the rights that 
a king has in his kingdom. In later times the administration, 
defense, and enlargement of the Papal States engaged much 
of the Pope's attention. The formation of this principality 
dates back to the downfall of Byzantine and Lombard rule in 
central Italy in the eighth century, and to the donations of land 
made to the papacy by the Prankish kings, Pepin the Short 
and Charlemagne (§§ 22, 27). 

Because of their bearing on the claims of the papacy we 
must here say a few words about two documents which are 
91. Forged now known to be forgeries, but which, down to the middle 
an(?False °^ ^^^ fifteenth century, were accepted unquestioningly 
Decretals as genuine. These are the forged Donation of Constantine 
and the False Decretals. The Donation of Constantine rep- 
resents that Emperor as having been cleansed from leprosy 
by the prayers of the Pope. In gratitude for this he is said to 
have resolved to forsake Rome for a new capital on the Bos- 
porus. Accordingly, so the document claims, he conferred 
upon the Pope "the city of Rome, and all the provinces, dis- 
tricts, and cities of Italy, and of the western regions." That 
is to say, the Emperor Constantine the Great is represented 
as conferring upon the Pope the right to rule over the Western 
Empire, which, of course, is historically not true. The False 
Decretals are a collection of imaginary letters of early Popes 
and decrees of councils, which show the Popes as acting from 



THE CHURCH ORGANIZATION 



91 



the first as supreme rulers in the church. Both Donation and 
Decretals are now recognized by Protestants and Catholics 
alike to be forgeries of the clumsiest sort. The Donation was 
forged in the eighth century, and the False Decretals in the 
ninth. But the ignorance and lack of critical inquiry of the 
Middle Ages caused them to be accepted without question for 
six hundred years. The extent to which these documents aided 
the development of the Pope's power over the church and his 
acquisition of the Papal States is a matter of dispute, ^j 
But a Catholic historian admits that they "did, in matter Church His- 
of fact, hasten the development and insure the triumph" ^'"'^' ' ^^'* 
of the principles of papal headship and temporal rule which 
they embody. 

To assist the Pope in his work of governing the church, a 
clerical council was gradually formed, the members of which were 

called cardinals. 92. The 




This body was 
at first composed of 
the bishops of the 
seven great churches 
at Rome, together 
with other high clergy- 
men of that district. 
Later other Italians, 
and gradually some 
foreign clergymen, 
were admitted. The 
importance of the car- 
dinals as an organized 
body dates from 1059, 
when the chief part in 
electing the Pope was 
conferred upon them. 
From time to time, 
to decide great questions which concerned the church, gen- 
eral or "ecumen'ical" councils of the whole church were 



cardinals 



©, 



Great CJiurche& 



SCALE OF MILES 



X K 1 2 

Rome in the Middle Ages 



92 THE MEDIEVAL CHURCH 

called. The first of these, held at Nicaea, in Asia Minor, in 

the year 325, condemned the Arian heresy (§ 16). The first 

General ^ig^^ Councils were recognized by the Greek and Latin 

councils of churches alike ; but beginning with the ninth they were 

t e c urc really concerned only with the affairs of the Latin 

Church. In the fifteenth century, troubles in the church 

revived the use of councils. It then became a burning question 

whether the Pope was above such assemblies, or they above the 

papacy; that is, whether the Pope, or the council of higher 

clergy representing the church as a whole, finally revealed the 

will of God. 

One source of the church's strength was its democracy. At 

a later time its higher offices, especially in Germany and France, 

Democ- became the exclusive possession of the well-born; but 

racy of the at the height of the Middle Ages this was not the case. 

The church long offered almost the only career in which 

a poor and humbly born boy of talent might rise to a position 

of power and importance. Until the growth of the lawyer class 

in the twelfth century, the priesthood was the only calling in 

which success depended mainly upon learning and intelligence. 

Even the papacy was not closed to baseborn lads of ability. 

Among the Popes of this period we find the son of a peasant, of 

a shepherd, of a cobbler, of a baker, of a carpenter, and of a 

physician, and one who in his early days had begged his bread 

from door to door in the island of Crete. 



C. The "Regular" Clergy 

In the foregoing account of the church we have been con- 
cerned mainly with what were called the "secular" clergy, that 
OS. Bene- ^^' clergy who lived in the "world" (seculum). There 
dictine was in addition an enormous body of so-called "regular 

clergy" who might, under proper circumstances, fill any 
of the above offices. The " regular " clergy were those who lived 
under a "rule" {regula), such as those of the different monastic 
orders. In the West the rule of Saint Benedict, who died in 



THE "REGULAR" CLERGY 



93 



543, was the most important monastic ordinance. It breathed 
an essentially mild and practical spirit, as opposed J:o the wild 
extravagances of eastern zealots like Sim'eon Styli'tes, who 
dwelt for thirty years on the narrow top of a lofty column. 
Benedict's rule enjoined upon the brethren the three vows of 
poverty, chastity, and obedience to their abbot, or head. They 
were to labor with their hands, especially at agriculture. 
They were to join in public worship once during the night 
(about two o'clock), and at seven stated "hours " 
during the day. The monks were also en- 
couraged to read and to copy books. They 
ate together in a " refectory," at which time 
one of their number was appointed to read 
aloud. The Benedictine monks slept in a com- 
mon dormitory and not in separate cells. Each 
monastery was a settlement complete in itself, 
surrounded by a wall, and the monks were not 
allowed to wander forth at will. New mon- 
asteries were often located on waste ground, in 
swamps, and in dense forests. By reclaiming 
such lands and teaching better methods of 
agriculture the monks rendered a great service 
to society. An equal or greater service was 
rendered to the cause of learning by the labors ^""""^ ^ \^^i! '^^°" 

° •' tury MS. 

of the monks in copying books, which other- 
wise would have perished in the dark days of the Middle 
Ages. They also conducted schools, in which boys were 
taught the elements of learning. In this way the seeds of the 
learning and culture of antiquity were kept alive by the monks, to 
blossom forth again in the period of the Renaissance. The house 
of Saint Gall in Switzerland is a type of the great monasteries of 
the Middle Ages. In the tenth century its estates amounted 
to 160,000 "plowlands," on which dwelt a populous community 
of laborers, shepherds, and workmen of various trades em- 
ployed by the monastery, together with the serfs who were 
bound to work three days a week in tilling the monastery 




Benedictine 
Monk 



94 



THE MEDIEVAL CHURCH 



96. Monas 
tic reform ; 
Order of 
Cluny 



lands. The convent itself numbered more than five hundred 
monks. 

The Benedictine monasteries were entirely independent of 
one another. Theoretically, the bishop had the right of visit- 
ing and correcting 




the monasteries in 

his diocese ; but 

frequently the 
monks secured papal 
grants which freed them 
from the bishop's con- 
trol. Many monaster- 
ies^ also, became very 
wealthy through gifts of 
lands and goods. Then 
luxury and corruption 
crept in; and great 
nobles sought to secure 
control of monastic es- 
tates, often by the 
appointment of "lay" 
abbots who drew the 
monastery revenues 
without taking monastic 

vows. Such periods of decay were followed by times of re- 
vival, and these in turn by new decline — and so on to the end 
of the Middle Ages. 

The monastery of Cluny, in eastern France, was the center 
of such a revival in the tenth and eleventh centuries. The 
monasteries which it reformed were brought into permanent 
dependence on the abbot of the head monastery at Cluny, their 
"priors" or heads being appointed by him. The name "con- 
gregation" was given to such a union of monasteries under 
a single head. The congregation of Cluny grew until, in the 
twelfth century, it numbered more than two thousand monas- 
teries. The strict self-denial of these monks, the splendor of the 



Monastery of St. Gall 
From a plan made in 1596 



THE "REGULAR" CLERGY 95 

worship in their great churches, their zeal for learning and edu- 
cation, and a succession of distinguished abbots, account for the 
spread of the Cluniac movement throughout Europe. 

In course of time other reformed monastic organizations 
arose. The various orders were distinguished by differences 
in the color and cut of their garments, as well as in their other 
mode of life. In addition to the organizations for men, monastic 
there were also many for women. The "nunneries," °' ^^^ 
or houses of these organizations, were numerous, widespread, 
and crowded. They offered a safe refuge to defenseless women 
in an age of violence; and nuns who possessed talent, high 
birth, or sanctity might rise as abbesses to positions of honor 
and influence. 

In the thirteenth century arose new sorts of monastic organ- 
izations, largely as a result of the need of a more flexible force 
with which to combat a widespread heresy in France and g ^j^g 
Italy (see ch. x). These were the orders of Mendicant or mendicant 
Begging Friars. The older orders sought to shut out the °^ ^" 
world, and gave themselves up to prayer and meditation 
largely to save their own souls. The mendicant orders lived 
and labored in the world, seeking preferably the poorest quarters 
of the towns, where they worked to help and to save others. 
The Domin'icans (also called Black Friars) were founded by 
Saint Dom'inic (diedi22i), a Spaniard of noble family. The 
Francis'cans (called Gray Friars) were founded by Saint Francis, 
an Italian. "No human creature since Christ," says a Lea., inquisi- 
modern Protestant writer, "has more fully incarnated j^^J^^ ^ 
the ideal of Christianity than Francis. Amid the extrava- 1, 260 
gance of his asceticism, there shines forth the Christian love 
and humility with which he devoted himself to the wretched 
and neglected — the outcasts for whom, in that rude time, 
there were few indeed to care." Both orders, after some hesita- 
tion, were authorized by the papacy, and became its stanch 
supporters. The Dominicans applied themselves especially 
to preaching and teaching, while the Franciscans turned rather 
to care of the poor and sick. Everywhere the friars were 



96 THE MEDIEVAL CHURCH 

enthusiastically welcomed. "They went out two by two," 

says a contemporary; "they took neither wallet, nor money, 

Jacques de nor bread, nor shoes, for they were not permitted to pos- 

Vitry, in gggg anything. They had neither monastery, nor church, 

7dlcr PJti/— 

lippe Auguste, ^lor lands, nor beasts. They made use of neither fur nor 
80 linen, but wore only tunics of wool, terminating in a hood, 

without capes or mantles or any other garment. If they were 
invited to eat, they ate what they found; if they were given 
anything, they kept none of it for the morrow. Once or twice 
a year they gathered together for their general chapter, after 
which their superior sent them, two together or more, into the 
different provinces. They were so increased in a little time 
that there was no province in Christendom where they had not 
their brethren." Nothing inthis world, however, is proof against 
decay. Before two centuries had passed the mendicant orders 
also had sunk into decline, and their members were often held 
up to popular reproach and contempt. 

In the heat of the Reformation in the sixteenth century, 
another notable order was founded, that of the Jesuits, which 
will be described in its place (§ 400). 

In summing up this chapter, we may say that while decen- 
tralizing forces prevailed in the state, the church grew steadily 
99. General in unity and in strength. The Pope's headship was ad- 
summary vanced as the Emperor's power- declined. Successive 
waves of monastic reform resulted in the formation of new 
orders of monks, and these made new efforts to revive and 
purify the church. Impressive church services were devised, 
and education began to spread among the clergy, though con- 
fined within narrow limits. The chief problem of the church 
was how to secure the clergy from oppression at the hands of 
feudal lords and other rulers. Before the eleventh century, the 
practical problems caused by the invasions of the Northmen and 
the decay of civil government so occupied men's minds as not 
to permit of much speculation on the relations of the spiritual 
and temporal powers. The church had need of the aid of tem- 
poral rulers to rescue and protect it from danger, and so did not 



THE "REGULAR" CLERGY 97 

dare to quarrel with its champions. By the eleventh century 
these dangers were past. Men's minds then began to turn to 
questions of principles and theory. It was inevitable that the 
two great powers, the temporal and the spiritual, should come 
into conflict in their representatives, the empire and the papacy. 
It is to this conflict, which constitutes the chief feature of the 
history of the next two centuries, that we turn in the following 
chapter. 

TOPICS AND REFERENCES 

Suggestive Topics. — (i) Compare the power of a modern religious society 
with that of the medieval church on each of the four points in § 83. 

(2) Which of the seven sacraments are retained in Protestant churches? 

(3) How many archbishoprics are shown in the map on page 86 ? (4) How 
many bishoprics were under the archbishop of Mainz ? (5) How many 
monasteries were m the archbishopric of Canterbury ? (6) Was monasticism 
a good or a bad thing for religion ? For society ? For the state ? Give 
your reasons. (7) Why does the church play a less prominent part in 
modern life than it did in medieval times ? 

Search Topics. — (i) St. Benedict and the Benedictine Rule. Wis- 
hart, Monks and Monasteries, 131-158; Ogg, Source Book, 83-90; Hender- 
son, Z>(?c2<me«^.j, 274-314. — (2) Monastic Attitude of Mind. Wishart, 
354-370. — (3) Services of Monks and Dangers of Monasticism. 
Emerton, Introduction, ch. xi; Wishart, 386-412; Kingsley, Roman and 
Teuton, ch. ix; Mimro and Sellery, Medieval Civilization, 129-136. — (4) 
Daily Life in a Medieval Monastery. Jessopp, The Coming of the 
Friars, ch. iii ; Gasquet, English Monastic Life, chs. ii, vi, vii. — (5) The 
Monastery of Cluny. Munro and Sellery, 137-152; Ogg, 245-249; 
Wishart, 177-180. — (6) St. Bernard and the Cistercians. Wishart, 
192-197; Munro and Sellery, 153-158, 406-431; Ogg, 250-260. — (7) 
Monastic Orders for Women. Wishart, 106-115. — (8) Origin of the 
Drama. Halleck, History of English Literature, 134-142. — (9) Parish 
Priests and Their People. Cutts, Parish Priests and their People, ch. ix ; 
Gasquet, Parish Life in Medieval England, ch. iv. — (10) An Account of 
a Papal Election. Nineteenth Century (magazine), April, 1897. — (11) 
St. Francis OF Assisi. Wishart, 208-230; Jessopp, ch. i; Ogg,- 360-379. 

General Reading. — Among numerous excellent histories of the church 
those by Sheldon, Schaff , Milman, Niebuhr, Moeller, and Gieseler may be 
mentioned. Trench's Lectures on Medieval Church History is scholarly, brief, 
and readable. The best Catholic church history is by Alzog (3 vols.). The 
Catholic Encyclopedia (15 vols.) is a mine of information on many subjects. 



■^O-RJ-J? 




THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE 

IN THE 

TENTH AND ELEVENTH CENTURIES 

SCAL E OF MILES 

60 100 



10 Longitude EaBt from Greenwich 15 



CHAPTER VI 

EMPIRE AND PAPACY: THE INVESTITURE CONFLICT 

A. The Revival oe the Empire 

The fall of the Carolingian rule in the eastern or German 
part of Charlemagne's Empire (911) coincided with a period 
of great confusion and disorder in those lands. This ^^^ j^^^_ 
was due chiefly to the beginning of a new series of bar- sionbythe 
barian invasions. The newcomers were the Magyars Hungarians 
(mod'y orz) , or Hungarictns, from central Asia. They were akin 
to the old Huns and Avars, and like them threatened to destroy 
European civilization. They were especially renowned for their 
insatiable greed and the fury of their fighting. 

The weakness of the central government in Germany threw 
the burden of defense against these invaders upon the local 
counts and dukes. These officers used the opportunity ^^^ q^j._ 
to strengthen and make practically hereditary their offices, man duchies 
and so laid the foundations of a number of powerful semi- °^^^ 
national duchies. The inhabitants of these duchies were origi- 
nally separate peoples or "stems" of the German race — 
the Bavarians, Saxons, etc. ; and from this fact these territories 
are often called "stem" duchies. In the tenth and eleventh 
centuries five of these duchies took definite shape, and formed 
the basis of German political geography thenceforth down to 
modern times. Bavaria lay on either side of the Danube at 
its northernmost bend ; Swahia included the headwaters of the 
Danube and of the Rhine ; Franconia lay to the north of Swabia, 
with lands on both sides of the middle Rhine ; and Saxony lay 
north of Franconia, bordering on the North Sea. Lotharin'gia 
(or Lorraine') lay to the west of Saxony, Franconia, and Swabia, 
and was sometimes German and sometimes French in rule. 

99 



lOO 



EMPIRE AND PAPACY 



To the east of these stem duchies lay a fringe of border districts, 

the holders of which acquired such large powers that they be- 
came practically independent of their dukes. Bohe'mia, behind 

its mountain barriers, formed an alien Slavic wedge driven into 

the eastern borders of Germany. 

Complete decay of Germany after the fall of the Carolingians 

was prevented by the election of the head of one of these stem 
102. Otto I, duchies as German king. The first to be so chosen was 
Gemany ^^^ Franconian duke; but he proved to be weaker than 
(936-973) the Saxon dukes, and after his death members of the Saxon 

house ruled Germany for four reigns.^ 

The first of these reigns which calls for 

consideration is that of Otto I (936-973). 

He was called Otto the Great, and was 

one of the most important kings of 

Germany in the Middle Ages. He is 

described as having a powerful figure, 

a red face, a long wavy beard, and eyes 

that moved incessantly "as if they were 

watching their prey." His deeds show 

him to have been a man of energy, courage, and military skill. 




Ring Seal of Otto I 
Note the spelling Oddo 



1 The following genealogy will show the relationships of the Saxon kings and 
their immediate successors : — 

THE SAXON AND FRANCONIAN (OR SALIAN) KINGS OF GERMANY 
(i) Henry I, the SAXON (919-936) 



(2) Otto I, TPiE Great (936-973) 
Refounded Holy Roman Empire (962) 



Liutgarde 
Otto 
Henry 



(3) Otto II (973-583) 
(4) Otto III (983-1002) 



(6) Conrad II, the SALIAN (1024-1039) 

(7) Henry III (1039-1056) 

(8) Henry IV (1056-1106) 



Henry, Duke of Bavaria 



Henry 

(s) Henry II, the Saint 
(100 2-1024) 



I 
(9) Henry V (1106-1125) 



Agnes = 



Frederick of Hohenstatif en 
(see table, page 115) 



THE REVIVAL OF THE EMPIRE lOI 

He strove to increase the kingly power over the dukes, and 
gained a measure of success in this, mainly by building up the 
power of the great churchmen in the state as a counterpoise to 
that of the great nobles. 

The value of Otto's measures was revealed when (in 955) the 
Hungarians next advanced up the Danube valley. On the 
banks of the river Lech (lek), in Swabia, these formidable 
invaders were for the first time decisively defeated, and their 
forces slain, drowned, or scattered in the pursuit. Otto's vic- 
tory was as great a deliverance for Germany as that of Charles 
Martel over the Moors had been for France. Soon thereafter 
the Hungarians settled down to agricultural and pastoral life 
and were converted to Christianity. In the year 1000 the 
Pope sent a crown to their king, and thus admitted the Hun- 
garians to the family of European nations. Through their 
acceptance of Roman Christianity, the boundary of western 
Christendom was shifted far to the eastward. 

Otto's reign saw also the beginning of an important German 
expansion northeastward, at the expense of the Slavs, which 
won for modern Germany some of its most important territory. 
Here also Roman Christianity progressed, through the establish- 
ment of an archbishopric at Mag'deburg (in 967), and of a num- 
ber of bishoprics dependent on it. From these centers civiliza- 
tion and Christianity slowly spread among the neighboring Slavs. 

But the most important event of Otto's reign arose out of 

his dealings with Italy. Since the downfall of the Carolingians 

that land had suffered many ills. Saracen and Hun- , , 

• 1111 , . 103. Italy 

garian raids had devastated it, and whole cities were in the tenth 

ruined. Conflicts raged between the townsmen, led by ^^^^^^y 
their bishops, and the feudal nobles. The central government 
was disputed among a series of shadowy kings and Emperors, 
no one of whom won wide recognition. The papacy, which 
might have taken the lead in combating these evils, was itself 
a prey to corrupt and greedy local nobles ; and violence, blood- 
shed, and scandal stained its history throughout the greater 
part of the tenth century. 



102 EMPIRE AND PAPACY 

In 951 the aid of Otto was sought by the widow of one of the 
contestants for the Italian crown. He led an expedition into 
104 Empire Italy, and rescued and married the lady who had sought 
revived by his aid. A revolt recalled him to Germany ; but ten years 
Otto I (962) jg^i-gj.^ Qjj i-jjg invitation of the Pope, he went a second time 
into Italy. He now assumed the crown of Italy ; and at Rome, 
on February 2, 962, the Pope crowned him Emperor. A few 
days later Otto confirmed all the grants that had been made 
to the Popes by Pepin and Charlemagne, and decreed that the 
papal elections should thereafter be conducted with the fullest 
liberty. The coronation of Otto revived the imperial title and 
refounded the Empire of Charlemagne, — to last (at least in 
name) for about eight centuries and a half longer. The new 
empire differed in some important respects from the former one. 
France no longer made part of it, and imperial interests were 
confined almost entirely to Germany and Italy. The very 
title used by his successors, that of "the Holy Roman Empire 
of the German Nation," indicates its Teutonic nature. The 
close connection between Germany and Italy, which the empire 
brought about, proved hurtful to both. To Italy it brought the 
ruin of all hopes of nationality and of a native government. 
For Germany it meant the sacrifice of the substance of power 
at home for the shadow of dominion beyond the Alps. To the 
papacy alone the connection was of immediate value, for the 
imperial power protected it against the greed and corruption 
of local nobles. 

Three members of the Saxon house followed Otto I on the 

German and imperial throne, — his son, his grandson, and his 

los. Fran- grandnephew ; but the events of none of these reigns 

conian or were important enough to call for mention here.^ Upon 

a an ne ^^^q death without heirs of the last of the Saxon rulers, 

a new German house, that of the Franconians, or Salians, 

ascended the throne. Under its first two members, Conrad II 

1 Otto III, the grandson of Otto I, was the most notable of these three Emperors. 
He succeeded to the throne at the age of three years (083), and for a time the regency 
was in the hands of his mother, a Byzantine princess. His closest friend and teacher 



::^i^^'-(r 



THE REVIVAL OF THE EMPIRE 1 03 

and Henry III, the medieval empire is considered to have reached 
its height. Burgundy (see map, p. 98) was added to the empire 
by peaceable succession, and Po- 
land, Bohemia, and Hungary be- 
came subject nations. The power '^ , ;* ' \ 
of the German dukes was de- ■• ^ 
creased, and a nominal control 
over Italy, with the imperial title, 
was maintained. But the most 
important event in these reigns v 
was a slowly developing movement - / « v ' 
for church reform, which .in the g^.^^ of Henky hi 
next reign produced one of the "Hdnrkus Dei Gratia Roma- 
most dramatic struggles of the norum Imperator Augustus " 

Middle Ages, — the Investiture Conflict between the papacy 
and the empire. 

B. The Investiture Conflict 

In the chapter on the Medieval Church we have de- 
scribed the reform movement which spread from the monastery 
of Cluny throughout western Europe. The program of 106. Need 
this movement did not stop with the purification of the L J^e"^™ 
monasteries. It extended as well to the secular clergy, church 
whose condition in the tenth and eleventh centuries was de- 
plorable. The three great evils most complained of in the 
church were clerical marriage, sim'ony, and lay investiture. 
(i) The clergy (with the exception only of the monks and 
of some bishops and priests) openly and freely entered into the 

was a French monk named Gerbert, who had studied in Spain, and whose rare mathe- 
matical knowledge made him seem a magician to after ages ; in ggg Gerbert became 
Pope, with the name Sylvester II, — the first French Pope. From his mother and 
his teacher Otto III received exalted ideas of the imperial power, which he sought 
to put in practice. He abandoned Germany and made Rome his capital, where he 
surrounded himself with high-sounding officials and an elaborate ceremonial, in 
imitation of the Byzantine court. Soon the fickle Romans revolted ; hurt at their 
ingratitude. Otto then wandered about Italy until his death at the early age of 
twenty- two. 



I04 EMPIRE AND PAPACY 

marriage relation. One great danger of this practice was the 
temptation that it offered to married churchmen to provide 
for their children out of the lands in their possession, thereby- 
impoverishing the church. Another objection was that it 
centered the thoughts and affections of the clergy upon their 
families, and prevented their single-hearted devotion to the 
church. (2) Simony was the purchase in any way of ecclesiasti- 
cal office, the word being derived from the name of that Simon 
Ma'gus who sought to buy the gift of the Holy Ghost (see Acts, 
viii, 17-24). (3) Closely connected with this evil was the right 
exercised by Emperors and princes of "investing" newly elected 
bishops with the ring and staff, which were the symbols of their 
spiritual office, and requiring from them homage and fealty 
for the lands which they held. Accompanying the control 
thus secured were encroachments upon the freedom of election, 
so that the higher clergy almost everywhere became the ap- 

Montalem- pointees of temporal rulers. Says a Catholic writer, in 
fth w t speaking of this period : "Kings could dispose, absolutely 

II, 3og and without control, of all ecclesiastical dignities. All 

was venal, from the episcopate, and sometimes even the papacy, 
down to the smallest rural benefice." 

In the beginning this reform movement was perforce carried 
on independently of the papacy, which at that time was sunk 

107 Henry under the control of the selfish nobles of central Italy. 

Ill and the When the Emperor Henry III went to Italy, in 1046, he 

papacy found three rivals claiming to be Pope, and each in pos- 

session of a portion of the city. At a council called near Rome, 
all three claimants were deposed for simony; and a German 
bishop of unblemished life and piety was chosen, — the first of 
a series of four German Popes. Of those who had filled the 
papal chair in the three preceding centuries, only four had not 
been born in Rome or the papcl states ; with these German 
Popes the papacy took on a more international character. 

The Popes now took the lead in the reform movement ; and 
under their direction synods (local councils of the clergy) were 
held in Italy, Germany, and France, which everywhere con- 



THE INVESTITURE CONFLICT 



105 



demned the married and simoniacal clergy. But the greatest 
thing which these German Popes did was to bring to Rome the 
monk Hil'debrand, as adviser and chief subordinate officer of 
the papacy. 

Hildebrand was of lowly German origin, but was born in 
Tus'cany. He had received his education and monastic train- 
ing in a Roman 108. Rise of 
monastery, of Hildebrand 
which his uncle was 
abbot. For a time 
he was an inmate of 
the monastery of 
Cluny. There one of 
these German Popes 
found him, and was 
so impressed with his 
ability and character 
that he took Hilde- 
brand to Rome. Until 
Hildebrand's own 
election to the papacy 
in 1073, as Gregory 
VII, he was the real 
power behind the 
papal throne, — under 
five different Popes, 
covering a period of 
nearly a quarter of a 
century. Physically he was far from imposing. He was of 
small stature, ungainly figure, and feeble voice. But he pos- 
sessed a mind of restless activity, uncommon penetration, Hefele, 
and an inflexible will. The substance of his policy was to quoted in 
enforce the Pope's supremacy over the church and over ckurch His- 
all temporal princes. A famous Catholic historian sums ^^ry, ii, 489 
up Hildebrand's design in these words: ''Seeing the world 
sunk in wickedness and threatened with impending ruin, 




Hildebrand (Gregory VII) 
From an old print 



io6 



EMPIRE AND PAPACY 



and believing that the Pope alone could save it, he con- 
ceived the vast design of forming a universal theocracy, which 
should embrace every kingdom of Christendom, and of whose 
policy the Ten Commandments should be the fundamental 
principle. Over this commonwealth of nations the Pope was 
to preside. The spiritual power was to stand related to the tem- 
poral as the sun to the moon, imparting light and strength, 
without, however, destroying it or depriving princes of their 
sovereignty." 

While Henry III lived, Hildebrand did not dare shake off the 

Emperor's control. When that prince died, he left an infant 

100 Prepa- ^^ ^^"^ years, Henry IV, to rule under the regency of his 

rations for mother. ''The princes," says a chronicler, "chafed at 

the struggle i^gjj^g governed by a woman or a child; they demanded 

their ancient freedom ; they disputed among themselves the 

chief place; at last they plotted 
the deposition of their lord and 
king." 

With little now to fear from be- 
yond the Alps, Hildebrand set 
about organizing new safeguards 
for papal independence. Every- 
where he could count upon the re- 
form party as favorable to his 
plans. The Countess Matilda of 
Tuscany gave him protection and 
resources, and finally donated to 
the papacy her vast estates, 
stretching almost to the Gulf of 
Genoa. New treaties also were 
concluded with the Normans of 
southern Italy, by which they be- 
came the Pope's vassals, and 
agreed to aid him against all men. Then in 1059 (§ 92) a decree 
was issued changing the method of papal elections. In the 
early church the Pope had been chosen by ''the clergy and 




Territories oe the Countess 
Matilda 



THE INVESTITURE CONFLICT 107 

people" of Rome. Under Charlemagne, and also under the 
Saxon Emperors and their successors, the Emperor practically 
appointed to that office. The decree of 1059 promoted the in- 
dependence of the papacy by providing that the real selection 
should be in the hands of the cardinals, — that is, of the Pope's 
own clerical council. 

The time at last came, in 1073, when Hildebrand himself 
was to don the papal crown. The election was irregular and 
not according to the decree of 1059. The people, assembled no. Hilde- 

in the church for the funeral services of the late Pope, brand as 

Pope Gresf- 
raised the cry, "Let Hildebrand be our bishop!" One ory Vil 

of the cardinals turned to the crowd and recalled how (1073-1085) 
much Hildebrand had done for the church and for Rome. On all 
sides the cry was then raised, ''Saint Peter crowns Hildebrand 
as Pope!" In spite of his resistance, Hildebrand was forth- 
with arrayed in the scarlet robe, crowned with the papal tiara, 
and seated in the chair of Saint Peter. In accordance with 
a practice which had prevailed since the tenth century, he 
took a new name as Pope, and thenceforth is known as Gregory 
VII. 

The claims of Gregory to treat the temporal power as sub- 
ordinate to the papacy made a struggle with the empire inevi- 
table. The imperial power, at this time, was far from ^^^ Qgj._ 
strong. The Emperor Henry IV had been allowed to many under 
grow up with alternations of stern repression and careless ^^^^ 
indulgence, and thus arrived at manhood without training to 
rule, with an undisciplined temper, and with a heedlessness of 
moral restraint which led him into many excesses. Finally, 
his rule was weakened by the disaffection of the Saxons, who 
had been the chief support of the throne under Otto I. In 
1073 their discontent ripened into revolt ; and although Henry, 
after one humiliating defeat, put down the rebellion, there con- 
tinued to exist in Germany a disaffected party, with which 
Gregory formed an alliance. 

In 1075 Gregory brought the question of investiture into a 
position of chief importance. He declared that investiture 



io8 



EMPIRE AND PAPACY 



112. Inves 
tit'jre Con- 
flict begun 



by laymen, even by kings and Emperors, was void, and pro- 
nounced excommunication against all who disregarded his de- 
cree. Temporal rulers generally felt that this decree in- 
fringed their just rights. Bishops and archbishops, espe- 
cially in Germany, were not merely ofhcers of the church. 
By virtue of the lands attached to their offices, they were great 
feudal princes as well, and exercised high influence in the state. 
The Emperor, therefore, could not consent to give up all 
means of keeping out undesirable men from these positions. 
Henry IV resolved to make himself the head of the resistance 




GosLAR, BiRTHPLACi, OF Hlnr\ IV (MoilLTn condition). 

to the Pope on this question. He continued to grant lay in- 
vestiture, and he associated with persons whom the Pope had 
excommunicated. 

When it was reported to King Henry that he was summoned 
to appear at Rome to justify his actions, he replied: "Henry, 
king not by usurpation, but by the will of God, to Hildebrand, 
no longer Pope, but false monk. Thou hast attacked me, who am 
consecrated king, and who, according to the tradition of the 
fathers, can be judged by God alone and can be deposed for no 
crime save the abandonment of the faith. Condemned by 
the judgment of our bishops, and by our own, descend ! Quit 
the place which thou hast usurped ! Let another take the seat 
of Saint Peter, who seeks not to cover violence with the cloak 



THE INVESTITURE CONFLICT 



109 



of religion, and who teaches the sound doctrine of Saint 
Peter!" 

To this Gregory replied in February, 1076, by sentence of 
excommunication. "Blessed Peter, prince of the Apostles," 
he wrote, "be thou my witness that the Holy Roman Church 
called me against my will to govern it ! As thy representative 
I have received from God the power to bind and loose in heaven 
and upon earth. Full of this conviction, for the honor and de- 
fense of thy church, I deny to King Henry, who with unheard-of 
pride has risen against thy church, the government of Germany 
and of Italy. I absolve all Christians from the oaths of fidelity 
they have taken or may take to him; and I forbid that any 

person shall serve him 
as king." 

The most powerful 
of the German princes 
were already op- us- Pope's 
posed to Henry, ^^^sfa'* 
and declared (1077) 
that unless the excom- 
munication was re- 
moved by a certain 
day, he would be 
treated as deposed and 
a new king elected. 
Henry's only hope 
was to break the alli- 
ance between the Pope 
and his enemies in 
Germany. To ac- 
complish this he set 
off secretly across the 
Alps, in the dead of 
winter, accompanied 
only "by his wife, his 
Canos'sa he found the 




Pope Gregory VII, Henry IV, and Countess 
Matilda at Canossa 

From a twelfth century MS. in Vatican Library 

young son, and one attendant. At 



no EMPIRE AND PAPACY 

Pope, who was already on his way to Germany to arrange the 
government with the princes. The Pope at first refused to 
see the king, and for three days Henry was obKged to stand 
as a suppHant — fasting and barefooted — without the castle 
gates. At last Gregory yielded to the entreaties of the Countess 
Matilda, and admitted him to reconciliation. The excommuni- 
cation was raised, but only on hard conditions. 

The humiliation of the Emperor at Canossa was the most 
brilliant victory that the papacy ever won over the temporal 
114 The power; but it was merely an incident in a long struggle. 
conflict con- Henry's German enemies were displeased that the Pope 
tinned j^^^^ removed the excommunication, and persisted in elect- 

ing a new king. Civil war followed ; and as Henry continued 
to give lay investiture, the Pope renewed his excommunication. 
A strong party now rallied to Henry's support, and he caused 
an assembly of German and Italian bishops to declare Gregory 
deposed and set up an anti-pope. In 1081 Henry mastered his 
German enemies sufficiently to come to Italy with an army. 
After three years' campaigning all Rome, except the strong 
fortress of St. Angelo, was in his hands. 

The dauntless Gregory meanwhile had sent for aid to the 
Normans of southern Italy. Upon their approach, Henry 
hastily quitted Rome, which was taken and sacked by the 
of Gregory Normans. When they retired, the Pope, who dared not 
VII (1085) remain behind, accompanied them. In May, 1085, 
Gregory VII died at Salerno in southern Italy. In his last 
hours he said, "I have loved justice, and hated iniquity; there- 
fore I die in exile." He had done much to clear the church of 
the scandals which clung to it, and he had raised the papal power 
to a higher pitch than ever before. But he had embroiled the 
papacy not only with the empire, but with most of the kings of 
Europe. Had his ideas triumphed, Europe would have been 
left practically under the sovereignty of the papacy, distant and 
disassociated from royal families or national feeling — a single 
monarchical rule supported by all the terrors of religious 
authority. 



THE INVESTITURE CONFLICT III 

The death of Gregory VII was far from ending the Investiture 
Conflict. With varying success the Popes after Gregory con- 
tinued the struggle, until Henry's death in 1106. The jjg -phe 
latter's undutiful son, Henry V, had rebelled in aid of the conflict set- 
papal policy; but when once seated upon the throne he 
proved as stanch an upholder of the imperial claims as his father. 
A compromise was finally arranged in 11 22, in what is called 
(from the German city where it was concluded) the Concor'dat of 
Worms. By its terms (i) the Emperor gave up "all investiture 
by the ring and the staff," and promised that there should be 
"freedom of election and of consecration." (2) In return, 
the Pope granted that the election of bishops and abbots should 
take place in the presence of the Emperor or of his representa- 
tive, so that objection might be made to persons unsatisfactory 
to him. It was also agreed (3) that the person so elected should 
receive from the Emperor, by being touched with his scepter, 
"the property and the immunities of his ofhce," and should duly 
fulfill the obligations, such as homage, arising therefrom. In 
this settlement the papacy gained the abolition of lay investi- 
ture, and so secured greater freedom for the church. Some 
solid advantages, however, remained to the empire, and the 
compromise was one which Gregory VII would have been loath 
to approve. It gave, indeed, only a breathing spell in the 
struggle between the world-church and the world-state. The 
two institutions were mutually exclusive, and new occasions for 
controversy were not slow to arise. In the world-empire of 
Charlemagne or Otto I there was no room for an independent 
church. In the world-papacy of Hildebrand there was no room 
for an independent empire or kingdom. The conflict had to 
continue until the power of one or of the other was destroyed. 

IMPORTANT DATES 

955. Otto I defeats the Hungarians. 

962. Otto I revives the empire. 
1073. Hildebrand, Gregory VII, becomes Pope. 
1077. Emperor Henry IV at Canossa. 
1 122. The Concordat of Worms settles the Investiture Conflict. 



112 EMPIRE AND PAPACY 

TOPICS AND REFERENCES 

Suggestive Topics. — (i) Compare the Hungarians, who were invading 
Europe from the east in the tenth century, with the Northmen, who were 
overrunning the western lands. (2) What changes of rehgion in the ninth 
and tenth centuries are shown by the maps on page 78 ? (3) Compare the 
empire of Otto T with that of Charlemagne. (4) What was the chief service 
that the Saxon Emperors rendered to Germany ? To the papacy ? (5) In 
what respects was the power of the Franconian Emperors greater than that 
of the Saxon ? (6) How did the purifying of the papacy prove a bad thing for 
the Emperors ? (7) To what extent do you think desire for power influ- 
enced Gregory VII ? (8) Was his policy a good or a bad one for the world ? 
Give your reasons. (9) Make a list of the forces supporting Gregory VII 
and those supporting Henry IV. (10) Was the interview at Canossa a vic- 
tory for the Pope or for the Emperor? Why? (11) Show that the Con- 
cordat of Worms was a real compromise. (12) Why are conflicts between 
church and state less frequent to-day than in the Middle Ages ? 

Search Topics. — (i) Raids of the Hungarians. Emerton, Medieval 
Europe, 106-109, 130-134. — (2) Work of Henry I for Germany. Emer- 
ton, 103-110; Henderson, Germany in the Middle Ages, 117-122; Tout, 
Empire and Papacy, 12-18; Thatcher and Schwill, Europe in the Middle 
Age, 167-170. -^ (3) Personality and Work of Otto I. Bemont and 
Monod, Medieval Europe, 275-277; Bryce, Holy Roman Empire, 84-88, 
133-144; Tout, 18-35; Thatcher and Schwill, 181-184. — (4) Character 
and Ideas of Otto III. Bryce, 144-148; Tout, 41-47. — (5) Theory of 
THE Empire. Bryce, ch. vii. — (6) Character and Aims of Hildebrand. 
Emerton, 230-231, 240, 244-245; Tout, 124-127; Thatcher and Schwill, 
261-265; Milman, Latin Christianity, Bk. VII, ch. i; Pattison, Leading 
Figures in European History ("Hildebrand"); Ogg, Source Book, 261- 
264. — (7) Minority of Henry IV. Emerton, 232-239; Henderson, 189- 
210; Tout, 120-124; Robinson, Readings in European History,!, 266-271. — 
(8) Henry IV AT Canossa. Emerton, 253-254; Tout, 130-132; Milman, 
Bk. VII, ch. ii ; Duncalf and Krey, Parallel Source Problems in Medieval 
History, 29-90; Ogg, 273-278; Robinson, I, 282-283. 

General Reading. — On the papacy and empire in the Middle Ages see 
Lees, The Central Period of the Middle Ages, Tout, Papacy and Empire, Bryce, 
Holy Roman Empire, Henderson, Short History of Germany, and Emerton, 
Medieval Europe, in addition to the church histories mentioned in the pre- 
ceding chapter. Stephens's Hildebrand and his Times is an excellent brief 
book. Fisher's Medieval Empire (2 vols.) gives a detailed account of the 
organization and working of the empire. 



CHAPTER VII 



EMPIRE AND PAPACY: FALL OF THE HOHENSTAUFENS 



A. GUELF AND GhIBELLINE 

With the death of Henry V without children, in 1125, the 

Franconian or SaHan Hne of rulers disappears from German 

history. The n?- Acces- 

, " J- , sion of the 

most powerful Hohenstau- 

of the noble fens (1138) 
families which were 
left was that of the 
Hohenstaufens (ho'en- 
stou-fenz). Their 
chief castle, from 
which the family took 
its name, stood on a 
spur of the Alps which 
separates the upper 
Danube from the 
Neckar valley. Be- 
cause of the stanch 
loyalty with which its 
heads had supported 
the empire in the In- 
vestiture Conflict, 
they had been re- 
warded with rich 
grants of lands and 
offices in Swabia and Franconia. It was natural that the Hohen- 
staufens should aspire to the vacant kingship, but for the time 
their ambition was defeated. After the brief rule of a Saxon 

113 




Ruins of Hohenstaufen (From an ola print; 



114 EMPIRE AND PAPACY 

king, however, a Hohenstaufen was chosen in 1138. But it 
was not until the accession, in 1152, of Frederick I, called 
Barbaros'sa from his red beard, that this most brilliant of the 
medieval imperial houses began to leave its impress on German 
and Italian history. 

With the accession of Frederick I came a definite recognition 
of the elective character of the imperial office. The kingship in 
118. Im- Germany, as in all the kingdoms founded by the Teutonic 
becomes *^^ invaders, originally presented a rude combination of the 
elective elective and hereditary principles. One family in each 

early German tribe had a hereditary claim to rule, but from 
among the members of this family the warriors were free to 
choose the bravest or the most popular as king. In England, 
Spain, and France (in spite of the temporary triumph of the 
elective principle in the accession of Hugh Capet), the heredi- 
tary principle gradually prevailed. Thus by the twelfth 
century the rulers in these countries followed one another in 
practically the order of hereditary right. In Germany, however, 
a contrary development had taken place. With the accession 
of Frederick it became established as "the cardinal principle 
of the law of the Roman Empire," to use the language of a 
Otto of contemporary chronicler, "that the succession depends 

Freising, not upon hereditary right, but on the election of the 
Chromcie princes." This difference was due in part to the fact that 
both the Saxon and Franconian houses became extinct, in the 
male line, after only a few reigns, and so gave opportunity 
for free election. The desire of the great nobles to prevent the 
growth of a strong hereditary royal power was also a factor. 
But most important of all was the fact that the German king, 
after his coronation by the Pope, was also Emperor. The 
Popes never admitted that the imperial dignity was hereditary, 
or that the coronation as Emperor was to be considered a mere 
form. Papal influence, therefore, combined with favoring cir- 
cumstances and the interest of the princes to keep up and 
strengthen the custom of election. The right of choice, which 
first belonged to the whole body of freemen, was by degrees 



GUELF AND GHIBELLINE 



"5 



vested in their leaders. In a later chapter we shall see how 
this right to elect was subsequently given to a definite elec- 
toral college of seven members (§ 300). 

The chief rivals of the Hohenstaufehs in Germany, both 
before and after their accession to the throne, were the Welfs, 
who possessed the important duchies of Bavaria and "Q- Rival- 
Saxony.^ For three quarters of a century the kingdom q^^j" ^^^ 
was torn by the quarrels of these two families. Their Ghibelline 
rival cries, ''Hi Welfen !" and "Hi Waiblingen !" (vi'bling-en ; 
from a little village in Swabia near the castle of Hohenstaufen), 
gave rise to new party names. Beginning as a struggle between 
rival families, the contest became a warfare of contending 
principles. The Hohenstaufen party stood for the principle 
of strong monarchical government and for imperial rule over 
Italy. The Welf party represented feudal opposition to the 
monarchy, and the independence of the Italian towns.' In 
Italy the names of the two parties appear as Guelf (gwelf) and 
Ghibelline (gib'el-in), the latter being a corruption of Waiblingen. 



1 The relationship of the members of these two houses will be apparent from the 
following table : — 

THE HOUSES OF WELF AND HOHENSTAUFEN IN GERMANY 

Frederick 
of 
HOHENSTAUFEN = Agnes, sister of the 
Emperor Henry V 
(see table, p. loo) 



(i) LoTHAiR II, OF Saxony Henry the Black, 
(1125-1137) Duke of Bavaria, 

head of the house 
of WELF 



Gertrude = Henry the Proud 

Henry the Lion (d. iigs)' 



(6) Otto IV (1198-1214) 
(d. 1218) 



William, 
ancestor 
of the 

Electors of 
Hanover 

and of the 
Hanoverian 

sovereigns 
of Great 
Britain 



Judith = Frederick the One-eyed, 
Duke of Swabia 

(2) Conrad III 
(1138-1152) 
first Hohen- 
(3) Frederick I, Barbarossa staufen king 
(1152-1190) 



(4) Henry VI 
(1190-1197) 

(7) Frederick II 

(l214-12W'> 

I 



(S) Philip of Swabia 
(1198-1208) 



Henry (8) Conrad IV 
(d. 1242) (1250-1254) 

Conradin (slain, 1268) 



Manfred 
(illegit.;d. 1266) 



Il6 EMPIRE AND PAPACY 

It was impossible for the papacy to avoid taking sides. In 
Germany its influence was usually, and in Italy almost always, on 
Fisher, the side of the Guelfs. " Broadly speaking, the Guelfs were 

Empire I papalists, the Ghibellines imperialists. The GhibelUnes 
331 were the party who desired a strong government, the 

Guelfs the party who preferred particularism [decentralized 
government]. The Ghibellines would bring in the German, 
the Guelfs would cry 'Italy for the Italians.'" But these 
larger issues were gradually lost sight of in the feuds of factions. 
By the fifteenth century the names Guelf and Ghibelline lin- 
gered only in Italy, where they came to mean no more than 
party differences in the mode of building battlements, in wearing 
feathers in the cap, in cutting fruit at the table, in habits of 
yawning, passing in the street, throwing dice, gestures in speak- 
ing or swearing. 

B. Frederick Barbarossa, the Papacy, and the 
Italian Communes 

Frederick Barbarossa was in many respects the ideal Emperor of 
the Middle Ages. He combined the qualities of a skilled statesman 
120. Fred- and good general with the virtues of a crusader and hero 
Barbarossa ^^ romance. His greatest ambition, as he wrote the Pope 
(1152-1190) soon after his accession, was to restore the Roman Empire 
in all its ancient vigor. Frederick was no dreamer ; he sought 
to know his rights as Emperor, and he used practical means to 
enforce them. He has well been called an "imperialist Hilde- 
brand." Frederick's attempt to revive the imperial power in 
Italy caused a renewal of the contest between the empire 
and the papacy. It also brought him into conflict with a new 
power which was arising there, — the Italian towns, or com- 
munes (§ 194). The city of Mil'an, in Lombardy, was one of 
the most important of these ; and Frederick's first Italian expe- 
dition was in part due to the attempts which that city was 
making to extend its rule over neighboring towns. 

Hastening over the Alps by the Brenner Pass, in 11 54, Fred- 



FREDERICK BARBAROSSA 



117 



erick taught the Italians that the Emperor's power was still 
to be feared. The arrogance of Milan was checked, and one 

of her allies destroyed. The Pope, 121. Fred- 
who had been driven from Rome by ^jarossa in 
a revolt, was restored, and Frederick Italy 
was crowned Emperor. 

On a second expedition, in 11 58, it was 
announced that the Emperor's control 
over the cities was no longer to be merely 
nominal, but that their officers would be 
appointed by him. The citizens of Milan 
revolted against this decree, and held out 
with heroic courage for three years. At 
last famine forced them to yield. Fred- 
erick then ordered that their city should 
be destroyed. The loudest complaints 
against Milan had come from other Ital- 
ian towns ; and it was their forces which 
now carried out the order of destruction 
(1162). 

It was soon evident that Frederick in- 
tended to establish a strong centralized 
government in Italy. This policy 122. New- 
threatened the territorial independ- ^i"ji the 
ence of the papacy, as well as the papacy 
rights of self-government enjoyed by the 
towns. Already the relations between 
Frederick and the Pope had become 
strained. When he went to Rome to re- 
ceive the imperial crown, a bitter quarrel 
had arisen over his refusal to hold the 
Pope's stirrup while the latter dismounted. At another time 
a legate of the Pope delivered a letter to Frederick in which 
mention was made of the "benefits" (beneficia) conferred upon 
the Emperor by the Pope. When objection was made to the 
letter on the ground that the language used might bear the sense 




Frederick 1 

Twelfth century sculp- 
ture on wall of a 
Bavarian monastery 



ii8 



EMPIRE AND PAPACY 



of a feudal "benefice" granted by a lord to a vassal, the legate 
added fuel to the fire by asking, "Of whom, then, does he hold 
the empire but of our lord the Pope ? " In a written declaration 




C A R I N ^ 



Rome /^^ 

^ Tiber Bi^f . " V*;!""'^' ^^'^ 
^ \ - ^ - -. 

njx- „„f,.V,„ "^ SCALE OF MILES V" 

Lucca Uities ot the , , , , , ^uh-hi^^ _r *« 

Tuscan League ^J\^ « 20 40 60 V"'-~%.j-^ CO 



The Lombard League (1167) and the Tuscan League (1196) 

Frederick replied that "the empire is held by us, through the 
election of the princes, from God alone." Subsequently the 
Pope explained that the word heneficia in his letter meant benefits 
and not fiefs; but the distrust aroused could not be allayed. 
When this Pope died (1159) a majority of the cardinals chose 
as Pope, under the name of Alexander III, the legate whose 
bold language had called forth Frederick's declaration concern- 
ing the imperial office. In ability and lofty ambition this Pope 
proved a worthy successor of the great Hildebrand. The 



FREDERICK BARBAROSSA 



119 



minority of the cardinals elected an anti-pope favorable to the 
imperial cause. To the demand that the disputed election be 
referred to a council of the whole church, Alexander replied, 
"No one has the right to judge me, since I am the supreme 
judge of all the world." Frederick naturally supported the 
anti-pope; but France, England, and the' rest of western 
Christendom recognized Alexander III. Alexander excom- 
municated the Emperor, and encouraged his Italian enemies on 
every hand to unite against him. 

Hitherto the Lombard cities had been disunited and mutually 
hostile, and it had been easy for the Emperor to subdue them. 
Even the cities which had sided with the Emperor now 123. For- 
saw that his harsh control endangered their liberties. ^gLom- 
With the help of the Pope, the chief towns of the plain of bard League 
the Po, — from Milan to Venice, and from Ber'gamo to Bologna 
(bo-lon'ya), — united themselves into the Lombard League to 
resist the Emperor's claims in Italy. The very cities which 
formerly had demanded the destruction' of Milan now lent their 
aid to rebuild it. Out of hatred for German rule, Italy seemed 
about to arrive at a consciousness of national unity. 

For several years 
Frederick was so occu- 
pied with troubles 124. Battle 
in Germany that of Legnano 

C -^ ff^/ ^^ ^^^ ^^^ ^^^^ 

to act effectively against 

the menacing combina- 
tion which had arisen 
in Italy. In 11 74, how- 
ever, he led a new ex- 
pedition thither. Two 
years later there oc- 
curred a decisive battle 
at Legnano (la-nya'no), 
near Milan. The im- 
perial army numbered 




\^{ Mail-clad German Horseman 
From a twelfth century MS. 



I20 EMPIRE AND PAPACY 

six thousand horsemen, as against the eight thousand troops of 
the Lombard League. After a desperate conflict the Emperor 
was unhorsed, and the imperial forces fled. With difficulty and 
almost unattended Frederick reached a place of safety. " Glo- 
rious has been our triumph," wrote the Milanese to Bologna, 
"infinite the number of the killed among the enemy, the 
drowned, the prisoners. We have in our hands the shield, the 
banner, cross, and lance of the Emperor ; and we found silver 
and gold in his coffers, and booty of inestimable value. But 
we do not consider these things ours, but the common property 
of the Pope and the Italians." 

Frederick was now forced to make peace. At Venice, in 
1177, — just one hundred years after Henry IV had humbled 
125. Trea- himself before Gregory VII at Canossa, — he acknowl- 
ice\nd ^°" ^^ged Alexander as Pope, and prostrated himself at his 
Constance feet. The final peace with the communes was not con- 
cluded until 1 183, at Constance, a city in Swabia. By this 
treaty the Emperor recognized the rights of the Lombard cities 
to elect their own officers, to build fortifications, to enter into 
leagues, to raise troops, and to coin money. Thenceforth 
these cities were practically self-governing republics, the barest 
overlordship remaining to the Emperor. Under these new 
conditions their commerce flourished more and more ; but their 
political life, under the overstimulus of freedom, broke . out 
incessantly into quarrels and riots. 

While Frederick was pursuing the shadow of power in Italy, 

his rival, Henry the Lion, of the house of Welf, was seizing its 

126 Fall substance in Germany. He consolidated the rule of his 

of the Welf family over Bavaria and Saxony, and continued the Saxon 

°"^^ policy of extending German dominion over the Slavic 

lands to the northeast. In this way the boundary of Germany, 

which in Charlemagne's day was the Elbe River, was pushed 

eastward to the Oder. Henry's policy, however, was wholly 

selfish. He refused to lend any assistance to Frederick 

Barbarossa in his campaigns against the Lombard League. 

Frederick determined, therefore, to humble this rival, whose 



FREDERICK BARBAROSSA I 21 

power was growing to a dangerous pitch. A pretext was found 
in complaints of Saxon bishops, who accused Henry of oppressing 
them. After four times failing to appear for trial, he was sen- 
tenced to banishment and the forfeiture of his lands. Ulti- 
mately he regained part of his estates, which became the nucleus 
of the later duchy of Brunswick and electorate of Hanover 
(see maps, pp. 259, 482). The duchies of Saxony and Bavaria 
were shorn of much of their territory before being given to 
new holders. These changes practically marked the end of the 
"stem-duchy" system of territorial organization, and the begin- 
ning of a policy of division and subdivision which by the end 
of the Middle Ages made Germany a chaos of petty principalities 
and lordships. Actually the benefit of the downfall of Henry 
the Lion went not to the Emperor, but to the local nobility who 
supplied the force by which it was carried out. 

Frederick's reign constitutes one of the most brilliant epochs 
in the history of medieval Germany. The rural districts 
advanced in prosperity. Forests were cleared, land in- q^^^_ 

creased in value, and agriculture was improved, while many under 
the condition of the peasants was materially bettered. ^® ®"*^ 
The towns grew in population, wealth, privileges, and power ; 
but the time was not yet come when they, like the cities of 
Italy, should be practically self-governing republics. At the 
same time the turbulent life of the nobles was somewhat 
softened and refined, and a courtly German literature was born 
in the lays of the " Minnesingers " (§ 220). 

Toward the end of his long reign, Frederick Barbarossa 
"took the cross," and departed for the East on the Third 
CrUsade (§ 167), where he died. Later ages, looking back ^^s. Death 
to the splendors of his reign, feigned to believe that he of Freder- 
was not dead, and applied to him the legend of another ^^ ^^^9°^ 
Frederick, now identified as a count of Thuringia. The vanished 
ruler, they said, was sleeping through the ages in a rocky cavern 
of a German mountain. When the ravens ceased to fly about 
its summit, he would awaken, and would return to chastise evil- 
doers and bring back the golden age. 



122 EMPIRE AND PAPACY 

C. Frederick II, and the Fall or the Hohenstaufens 

The right of Frederick Barbarossa's son, Henry VI, to the 
imperial throne was secured by his election during his father's 
120 A dis- lifetime. He added southern Italy and Sicily to the lands 
puted sue- ruled over by the Hohenstaufens, through his marriage 
cession ^j^j^ ^j^^ heiress of the last Norman ruler of that kingdom. 

His early death in 1197 left as heir to the Hohenstaufen house 
his three-year-old son, later Frederick II. A contest for the im- 
perial throne followed, in which the Hohenstaufens supported 
Henry's brother, Philip of Swabia, while the Welfs supported 
the son of Henry the Lion, who is known as Otto IV. 

The dispute over the imperial election gave opportunity for 
the papacy once more to advance its claim to temporal power, 
130, In- ^^^ i^ Pope Innocent III (i 198-12 16) it found a worthy 
nocent III champion. Innocent III was in many respects the ablest 
eci es It ^^^ most powerful Pope of the Middle Ages. He was in 
the prime of life, had been trained in the study of Roman and 
canon law, and his severe and lofty character inspired universal 
respect. He firmly established the Papal States in Italy; and 
had as vassal kingdoms under him Sicily and Naples, Sweden, 
Denmark, Portugal, Aragon, and Poland. Even King John 
of England was forced to surrender his kingdom into the hands 
of the Pope's legate, and receive it back as a fief of the pa- 
pacy (§ 236). The papal suzerainty over the em.pire, which 
Milman, Frederick Barbarossa so vigorously rejected, was again 
Uanity v" asserted ; and Innocent now claimed the right to decide 
510-514 the disputed imperial election. His decision was that 

Philip was unworthy as "an obstinate persecutor of the church, 
and the representative of a hostile house" ; while Otto, though 
chosen by a minority, was "himself devoted to the church, of 
a race devoted to the church. Him, therefore, we proclaim 
and acknowledge as king; him we summon to take the im- 
perial crown." 

Although Otto was given the crown because of his supposed 
friendship to the church, he soon laid claim to what the Pope 



FREDERICK II 



123 



regarded as unwarranted rights in Italy, and defied the Pope's 
excommunication. Innocent III therefore joined with Otto's 
German enemies in declaring him deposed, and put forth „ ... 

against him the young Hohenstaufen, Frederick II, now of Bouvines 
seventeen years old. Foreign alliances were entered ^^^^4) 
into on both sides. The Hohenstaufen supporters were aided 
by King Philip Augustus of France, who had his own interests 
to further. Otto was supported with men and money from 
his uncle. King John of England, who was at war with France. 
The decisive battle took place at Bouvines (boo-ven'), in northern 
France, in July, 1214. The issue involved not merely the pos- 
session of the imperial crown; it also involved the French 
occupation of Normandy and other English fiefs in France, and 
the cause of English liberty against the tyranny of King John 
(§ 236). Thus the day of Bouvines has well been called "the 
greatest single day in the history of the Middle Ages." It 
ended in victory for the partisans of Frederick II, and to him 
now passed the German and imperial crowns. 

Frederick II was already beginning to show the qualities 
which won for him the name "the wonder of the world." From 

contact with his Greek ,,., f,.„, 

132. Cnar- 

and Saracen subjects in acter of 
Sicily he had gained a cul- ^'^^^''''^ « 
ture unknown in the North. 
He also developed a toleration 
if not indifference in religion, 
and a looseness of personal 
morality, which gave his ene- 
mies openings for attack. He 
was an impassioned poet, a 
profound lawgiver, and a subtle 
politician. The spirit which 
„^ . , . ^ . ^ . ^ he displayed was really more 

iTiedencus Dei Gratia Romanorum "^ 

Rex et semper Augustus et Rex modern than medieval. 

^^^^^^^ " Frederick had been reared as 

a ward of Innocent III, but the intimate relations thus estab- 




Seal of Frederick II 



124 EMPIRE AND PAPACY 

lished did not prevent his engaging in a desperate struggle with 
the papacy after Innocent's death. • Before his coronation as 
Emperor, Frederick solemnly swore to abolish all laws injuri- 
ous to the liberties of the church, to cede Sicily to his son to 
be held as a fief of the papacy and not of the empire, to re- 
store to the papacy the inheritance of the Countess Matilda 
(§ 109), and to undertake a new crusade. These promises he 
broke almost as soon as they were made. 

Instead of surrendering the kingdom of Sicily to his son, 
Frederick kept it in his own hands, and proceeded to carry 
133. His re- ^^^ ^ remarkable series of reforms which made it for a 
forms in time the strongest and best-governed kingdom in Europe. 
'" ^ Because these measures reproduce or anticipate the means 

used in other countries to build up centralized modern states, 
they are worthy of special mention. They included the fol- 
lowing : — 

1. In judicial matters the king's courts were put above the feudal 

and ecclesiastical courts. 

2. The nobles and clergy were made subject to taxation equally with 

the townsmen. 

3. All castles built by the feudal nobles without authority from the 

king were to be destroyed. 

4. The right of private warfare, trials by ordeal, and serfdom on the 

royal domains were abolished. 

5. Representatives of the towns were admitted to the central assem- 

bly, which before was merely a feudal council. 

Milman, An English historian says of Frederick's rule in Sicily: 
Lahn u rjy^^ world had seen no court so splendid, no system 

\y ftTtsticifttty f . • > 1 • 

V, 398 of laws so majestically equitable. A new order of thmgs 

appeared to be arising, an epoch to be commencing in human 
civilization." 

Frederick's policy in Germany was directly opposed to that 

embodied in his Sicilian reforms. In Germany, as a result of his 

I d. His necessities there, he "threw to the winds every national 

policy in and monarchical tradition," and granted privileges to 

Germany ^j^^ nobles and great churchmen by which they became 



FREDERICK II 1 25 

truly "lords" of their lands, possessed of all rights and juris- 
dictions. On the other hand, he gave large privileges to the 
towns, seeking in them a support against the Pope and rebellious 
nobles. The net result of his policy was the enfeeblement of 
the central authority. Germany more and more ceased to be a 
state, such as England and France were becoming, and grew into 
a confederation of sovereign principalities. 

Frederick's tardy fulfillment (§ 172) of his vow to go upon 
a crusade brought upon him repeated excommunications from 
the Pope. His Sicilian reforms made him, in the Pope's i35- His 
eyes, an. oppressor of the clergy. His immoral pri- ^ith^f^e 
vate life increased the friction with the church; and the papacy 
toleration which he showed his Mohammedan subjects, and his 
use of them as troops in his wars, caused him to be suspected as 
a heretic. But the main cause of the bitter and unrelenting 
hostility which successive Popes now showed to the Hohen- 
staufens is to be found in the fact that Frederick retained 
Sicily and Naples. Their possession, along with Germany and 
northern Italy, enabled him to hem in the Papal States on 
all sides, and to threaten the territorial independence which 
the Popes deemed necessary to their security. 

As a result of these causes, there began in 1239 the last stage 
of the fatal struggle of papacy and empire, — a struggle which 
brought political ruin on both powers. The Pope renewed his 
excommunication, and absolved Frederick's subjects from their 
allegiance. Both Pope and Emperor appealed to Europe in 
letters of impassioned denunciation. The Pope called a church 
council to be held at Rome, but Frederick prevented its assem- 
bling by capturing the fleet carrying most of its members. In 
the midst of the struggle the Pope died, and one of Frederick's 
friends was elected as his successor. When Frederick heard the 
news he exclaimed, "I have lost a good friend, for no Pope can 
be a Ghibelline." His prophecy proved true, for the new Pope 
vigorously continued the policy of his predecessor. At a 
church council held at Lyons in 1245, Frederick was pronounced 
guilty of perjury, heresy, and sacrilege. He was declared 



126 ■ . EMPIRE AND PAPACY 

deposed, and the war against the Hohenstaufens was turned 

into a crusade, with the same spiritual rewards as for warring 

against the Mohammedans. 

Revolt now broke out in Germany, and in Italy Guelf and 

Ghibelline fought each other on every hand with furious hatred. 
n6 Death '^° ^^® ^^*^ °^ ^^^ ^^^^ Frederick was able to maintain the 
of Frederick imperial cause, though with increasing dlfiiculty. In 
II (1250) December, 1250, he was attacked by a disease from which, 

after a short illness, he died. An English writer of that time 

called him "the greatest prince of the world" ; but his powers 

were lost on an age not ripe for them. 

After Frederick's death his reforms were overthrown, and his 

empire crumbled to pieces. His son 'was obliged to abandon 

137. Fall of Germany in order to secure his inheritance in Italy. For 
the Hohen- a time Frederick's descendants waged a desperate struggle 
s au ens -^ ^j^^ latter land against the Pope's policy of exterminat- 
ing them root and branch. To overthrow the Hohenstaufens, 
the Pope sought aid from the newly arising national kingdoms 
beyond the Alps. When he failed to gain his end through 
English aid, the Pope turned to France. In 1265 a treaty was 
concluded with Charles of Anjou (aN-zhoo'), the brother of the 
French king, by which he was to be given the kingdoms of Naples 
and Sicily, under suzerainty of the Pope, in return for driving 
out the descendants of Frederick II. Three years later Charles 
defeated the Hohenstaufens in battle, and cruelly put to death 
Frederick's young grandson, the last representative of that 
imperial house. The papacy was thus freed from the menace to 
its territorial independence. But this end was gained only by 
fixing upon its borders a French power, from which it was to 
suffer, before a half century passed, a humiliation infinitely 
worse than anything threatened by Hohenstaufen rule. 

Germany after the overthrow of the Hohenstaufens was for 
nearly a score of years without any generally recognized ruler. 

138. The The Great Interregnum, as this period is called, lasted 
terregnum from 1 2 56 to 1 2 73. Private warfare was waged on every 
(1256-1273) hand. Robber knights, sallying forth from their castles. 



FALL OF THE HOHENSTAUFENS 



127 



wasted the lands of their neighbors, swooped down upon mer- 
chant trains, and from time to time attacked the cities them- 
selves. It was a time 



CLmenzfi DW" 



of unrestrained an- 
archy, the only law 
which was recognized 
being "the law of the 
fist." This, for Ger- 
many, was the im- 
mediate effect of the 
overthrow of the em- 
pire by the papal 
power. 

In Europe as a 
whole equally remark- 
able changes 139. Gen- 
were taking eral results 
,,^ ^ oftheHoh- 
place. From enstaufen 

whatever point struggle 
we may view it," says 
a French historian, 
"the death of Lavisse 
Frederick II and and Ram- 

the fall of the toireGenS- 

house of Hohen- '"^^e- H. 231 
staufen mark the end of one epoch and the beginning of an- 
other. The Middle Age proper, in the form which it had 
worn since the days of Charlemagne, was now at an end. 
This is as true in the history of thought and the arts as it is 
in political history. In the course of the long struggle between 
church and empire, a new society had been formed, with differ- 
ent features and a spirit that was wanting to the old. From 
Charlemagne to Frederick II the papacy and the empire oc- 
cupy the first place in the history of the time; but now the 
papacy had crushed the empire." The old ideal of two pow- 
ers divinely commissioned to rule the world in conjunction — 




^^^£HZ^_.-„, ^ 



Charles of Anjou invested with the Crown 
OF the Two Sicilies by a Bull given by 
THE Pope (Clement IV) 

Fresco pictured in Viollet-le-Duc 



128 EMPIRE AND PAPACY 

the ideal expressed in the figures of the "two swords," and of 
the "two lights" (the sun and the moon) — was now aban- 
doned. The papacy itself for a time sought to be the supreme 
head in temporal affairs as well as in spiritual. This con- 
ception was embodied in the person of a Pope (Bon'iface VIII), 
who arrayed himself in the papal crown and the imperial robe, 
and exclaimed, "I am Caesar — I am Eniperor ! " But, though 
the empire had fallen, the national monarchies of Europe were 
just arising; and with Philip IV of France, the head of the 
most formidable of these, the papacy soon came into disastrous 
collision. 

IMPORTANT DATES 

1 152, Election of Frederick Barbarossa as Emperor. 

1159. Alexander III elected Pope; new contest between papacy and 

empire. 
1 176. Frederick defeated by the league of Lombard towns at Legnano. 
1 183. Peace of Constance. 
1 190. Death of Frederick Barbarossa. 
1 198-12 1 6. Innocent III Pope. 

1214. Battle of Bouvines. 

1215. Frederick 11 becomes Emperor; new quarrels with the papacy. 
1250. Death of Frederick II; followed by fall of the Hohenstaufens. 
1256-1273. Great Interregnum in Germany. 

TOPICS AND REFERENCES 

Suggestive Topics. — (i) What advantages were possessed in the Middle 
Ages by a settled hereditary succession over a line of elective rulers ? Why 
are there not the same advantages to-day? (2) Did the Welfs or the 
Hohenstaufens represent the cause of progress in Germany ? In Italy ? Give 
your reasons. (3) What were the grounds of the Emperor's claim to con- 
trol the Italian cities ? (4) On what historical grounds might the Pope claim 
that the Emperor was his vassal for the imperial crown ? (5) Why should 
the Popes oppose the development of the Emperor's power in Italy? 
(6) Which was of greater importance for history, the Emperor's attempts 
to control Italy or the quiet expansion of Germany to the northeast ? (7) Had 
Frederick I or the Italian communes the better right in their struggle? 
(8) Compare the papal power under Innocent III with that under Gregory 
VII. (9) In what respects do the measures of Frederick II in Sicily show 
him to have been ahead of his time? (10) Was the weakening of the cen- 



TOPICS AND REFERENCES 1 29 

tral power in Germany good or bad for that land? (11) Why could "no 
Pope be a Ghibelline " ? (12) Why was the opposition of the Popes to 
Frederick il greater than to Frederick I ? (13) State in your own language 
the significance of the overthrow of the Hohenstaufens. 

Search Topics. — (i) GuelV and Ghibelline Rivalries in Italy. 
Symonds, Short History of the Renaissance in Italy, 29-31 ; Encyclopedia Bri- 
tannica (nth ed.), XII, 668-669. — (2) Rise of the Italian Communes. 
'Eva&xton, Medieval Europe, 284-288, 522-528 ; Tout, Empire and Papacy, 237- 
239; Symonds, Short History of the Renaissance in Italy , da. ii. — (3) Person- 
ality OF Frederick Barbarossa. Bemont and Monod, Medieval Europe, 
303-304; Tout, Empire and Papacy, 246-247, 271-273. — (4) Arnold 
OF Brescia. Emerton, Medieval Europe, 293-297, 454-456 ; Bemont and 
Monod, 306-308 ; Milman, Latin Christianity, Bk. VIII, ch. vi. — (5) Henry 
THE Lion. Tout, Empire and Papacy, 264-268. — (6) Crusade and 
Death of Frederick Barbarossa. Tout, Empire and Papacy, 299-300 ; 
Thatcher and McNeal, Source Book, 529-535. — (7) Acquisition of the 
Kingdom of Sicily by the Hohenstaufens. Bryce, Holy Roman Empire, 
205-206. — (8) Character and Work of Pope Innocent III. Tout, 
Empire and Papacy, 313-316; Bemont and Monod, Medieval Europe, 321- 
325 ; Milman, Latin Christianity, Bk. IX, ch. i, close of ch. x. ■ — (9) Events 
Leading up to the Battle of Bouvines. Henderson, Short History, 92-93 ; 
Tout, Empire and Papacy, 328-331 ; Emerton, Medieval Europe, 314-325. — 
(10) Personality of Frederick II. Freeman, Essays, First Series; 
Bryce, Holy Roman Empire, 207-209; Tout, Empire and Papacy, 358-360; 
Ogg, Source Book, 402-409. — (11) Sicilian Reforms of Frederick II. 
Tout, Empire and Papacy, 360-364 ; Bemont and Monod, 326-328 ; Milman, 
Latin Christianity, Bk. X, end of ch. iii. 

General Reading. — In addition to the books mentioned in previous chap- 
ters, see Balzani's Popes and the Hohenstaufens, Butler's Lombard Communes, 
Testa's War of Frederick I against the Communes of Italy, Kington's Frederick 
II (2 vols.), and Freeman's essay on Frederick II in his Historical Essays. 
For the Catholic view of Frederick II, and other topics dealt with in this 
chapter, see the Catholic Encyclopedia. 




i:3o; 



CHAPTER VIII 
THE CRUSADES 

A. The Christian and Mohammedan East 

From the close of the reign of the Emperor Justinian (§17) 
to the middle of the eleventh century, the Greek, or Eastern, 

140 Greek Empire served as a bulwark against the onslaughts of 
Empire the Mohammedans and eastern barbarians. The terri- 
(565-1096) iQYiQG, of that empire, however, became much diminished. 

In the seventh century the Mohammedans conquered the fertile 
provinces of Syria, Egypt, and northern Africa (§ 18), while 
hordes of Slavs and Bulgarians from beyond the Danube poured 
across the northern frontier and occupied a large part of the 
Balkan peninsula. With the strong Bulgarian kingdom thus 
erected south of the Danube (679) the Eastern Emperors 
waged constant warfare throughout the next three centuries. 
Success at last crowned their efforts ; and at the beginning 
of the eleventh century, by conquest of the Bulgarians, the 
northern frontier was again pushed back to the Danube. The 
Greek Emperors then turned to face a new enemy which was 
appearing in the east. 

In spite of constant and desperate conflict, the prosperity 
of the Greek Empire was real and substantial. The coinage 

141 Its ^^^ sound, taxation just, manufactures flourishing, 
substantial trade widespread, and the government, though absolute, 
prosperi y ^^^ ^^^ oppressive. The orphan asylums and hospitals, 

the paved and lighted streets, the parks and police system 
of Constantinople, anticipated much that we regard as mod- 
em. In the Eastern Empire were continued the Roman tradi- 
tions in literature, learning, and art ; and attempts were made to 
simplify instruction by condensing all learning into vast en- 

132 



THE CHRISTIAN AND MOHAMMEDAN EAST 



^33 



cyclopedias. At a time when in the West kings and princes 
gave themselves up entirely to war and the chase, and could 
scarcely sign their names, Emperors in the East often held first 
ranl^ among scholars. War was there studied as an art, while 
in the West it remained a mere matter of hard fighting. From 
the eighth to the twelfth century the Greeks alone possessed 
the secret of the " Greek fire" (composed of saltpeter, sulphur, 
charcoal, and bitumen) whose fierce flames, black smoke, and 
loud explosions destroyed hostile fleets and carried terror to the 
hearts of their enemies. An elaborate ceremonial was devised 
to regulate every act of the Emperor; and to impress foreign 
envoys golden lions roared and lashed their tails at the foot of 
the throne, while golden birds sang in a golden tree. Despite 

such foUieS, it is not Bayet, in 
too much to say that Munro and 

"in the history of J^^|;j;^,^ 
medieval civilization Civilization. 
before the eleventh ^^^ 
century, Byzantium [Con- 
stantinople] played a role 
analogous to that of Athens 
and Rome in antiquity, or 
Paris in modern times. Its 
influence extended over the 
whole world; it was pre- 
eminently 'the city.'" 

The conquests of the 
Mohammedan Arabs have 
already been traced in an 
earlier chapter (§ i8). 142. The 
In the field of culture f^^^St 
their achievements (736-1096) 
Present condition Were SO great as to justify 

the remark that "from the 
eighth to the twelfth century, the ancient world knew but 
two civilizations, that of Byzantium, and that of the Arabs." 




Damascus : Fountain in the Grand 
Mosque 



134 



THE CRUSADES 



Mohammedan civilization displayed much the greater expan- 
sive force, spreading over large parts of Asia, northern Africa, 
Wahi, in and Southwestern Europe. ''From the river Indus to 
Lavisse and ^j^g piUars of Hercules the same religion was professed, 
Histoire Ge- the Same tongue spoken, the same laws obeyed." Its 
neraie, 1, 773 four chief Centers were Damascus, in Syria ; Bagdad, on 
the river Tigris ; Cairo, on the lower Nile ; and Cordova, in 
Spain. Greek, Persian, Syrian, Egyptian, Spanish, and Hindu 
elements entered into 
this civilization. But 
the Arabic was the 
master element, for 
Arabian genius com- 
bined all into one liv- 
ing creation bearing 
the stamp of its own 
nature. 

In agriculture, 
manufactures, com- 
merce, science, and art 
the Mohammedan 
world compared favor- 
ably with Christian 
Mo- Europe. Agri- 
culture was not 
despised, as it 
was among the feudal 
nobles of Europe, and 
rich Mohammedans 
reveled in gardens of 
roses, jessamines, and 
camellias. Irrigation 

was extensively practiced, and tree-grafting became a science. 
Among new plants introduced into Europe by the Arabs were 
rice, sugar cane, hemp, artichokes, asparagus, the mulberry, 
orange, lemon, and apricot. 



143 

hammedan 
industries 




Interior of Mosque or Cordova, Spain 

Present condition. Built by Mohammedans in the 
eighth and tenth centuries 



THE CHRISTIAN AND MOHAMMEDAN EAST 



135 



In manufactures Mohammedans excelled. The sword blades 
of Toledo and Damascus were world-renowned. Equal skill 
was shown in the manufacture of coats of mail at once supple 
and strong ; of vases, lamps, and like articles of copper, bronze, 
and silver ; of carpets and rugs which are still unsurpassed ; and 
of vessels of fine glass and pottery. Sugars, sirups, sweetmeats, 
essences, and perfumes were of Moham- 
medan production. Paper, without which 
the invention of printing would have been 
valueless, came to Europe through the Mo- 
hammedans. Cordova was long famous for 
its manufactures of skins and fine leather. 

Commerce was widely followed, and no 
one looked down upon this occupation, to 
which Mohammed had been bred. In each 
city was a "bazaar," or merchant's quarter. 
The Arab sailors ruled the Mediterranean, 
the Indian Ocean, and the Caspian Sea. 
Caravans threaded their way from oasis to 
oasis to the heart of Africa, and across the 
wilds of Asia to China and India. The 
magnetic needle, first discovered by the 
Chinese, was known to the Arabs long before its introduction 
in the form of the compass into Europe. 

In literature (especially poetry) and in science the Arabs 
attained a high degree of development. The University of Cairo 
at one time had 12,000 students. In Spain, in the tenth 144- Ara- 
century, a library of 400,000 manuscript volumes (each aJureand" 
probably a mere part of a complete work) is said to have science 
been gathered. The Arabian philosophers were well versed in 
the writings of Aristotle (ar'is-tot- '1) and the Christian philoso- 
phers of Alexandria, whose works they read in Arabic transla- 
tions. In mathematics Mohammedan scholars led the world. 
Algebra was practically their creation, though its elements were 
derived from the Greeks and Hindus. The so-called "Arabic" 
system of notation was introduced by them, and displaced the 




Old Arabian Money 



136 THE CRUSADES 

clumsy Roman numerals which before were universally em- 
ployed. The chief novelties of the new system were the use of 
the cipher, and the idea of "value of position." In optics and 
astronomy the Arabs made considerable advance. In chemistry 
many of our common terms, such as "elixir," "alcohol," "alkaH," 
are of Arabic derivation and record our indebtedness to Arab 
researches. In medicine the Arabs were skilled practitioners, 
far in advance of Christian Europe; they seem even to have 
known something of anaesthetics. Pharmacy was practically 
created by them, and many of their preparations are still in use. 
In the eleventh century the religious and poKtical unity of the 
Mohammedan world was broken. The real power had passed 

- from the hands of the Arabs into those of their mercenary 
145. Rise or 
the Seljuk- soldiers, the Seljukian (sel-jook'i-an) Turks, — so called 

ian Turks ^^^^ ^-^^ ^^iiei (Seljuk) who first united them. They 
were of Asiatic stock, like the Huns, Magyars, and Bulgarians ; 
but unlike the Magyars and Bulgarians, they embraced Moham- 
medanism instead of Christianity. In 1058 the leader of these 
Turks occupied Bagdad, with the title "Sultan of the East and 
West." Thenceforth, the "caliph" (§ 18) was merely the re- 
ligious head of the Mohammedan state. The Turkish princes 
— of whom, at the end of the century, there were a number, 
rival and independent — were the veritable sovereigns. The 
military prowess of the Turks spread Mohammedanism over 
new areas. They cared Httle, however, for Arabian art and 
learning ; for they were far below the Arabs both in the culture 
which they possessed, and in their capacity for civilization. 

This was the condition of the Mediterranean East when a new 
element was added to the age-long strife between Asia and 
Europe through the calling of the First Crusade. 

B. The First Crusade 

. Throughout the Middle Ages the terror of the hereafter 
weighed with more awful force upon mankind than it does to- 
day. Ignorance of natural science led men to see supernatural 



THE FIRST CRUSADE 



137 



agencies in such exceptional occurrences as floods, droughts, 
tempests, and the appearance of comets ; and the writ- 146. Pil- 
ings of these times are full of encounters with devils and fhe^Holv ** 
demons. With this temper of mind went a belief in the Land 
power of penitential acts to avert God's wrath, and in the 
miracle-working power of relics of the saints, — especially ob- 
jects connected with the life and death of 
Christ. Very early in the history of the 
church, pilgrims began to visit spots made 
holy by their connection with the Christian 
religion. Some of these pilgrim resorts were 
in Europe, such as the tomb of Saint Thomas 
Becket, at Canterbury (England) ; or that 
of Saint James of Compostella, in Spain; or 
those of the Apostles Peter and Paul, at Rome. 
The most important centers of pilgrimage, how- 
ever, were the holy places of Palestine, which 
were connected with the life and death of Jesus 
Christ. 

The motives which sent men, and sometimes 
women, on pilgrimages were various. Such 
visits made more real the lives and teachings 
of Christ and the saints. People also believed that their 
prayers would more certainly be heard when they were ut- 
tered in a place made sacred by the life of some holy man, 
and that their bodies would thus be healed from disease and 
their souls cleansed from sin. Love of adventure, a restless 
spirit, and a desire to see new lands, also impelled men to pil- 
grimages. After the religious revival in the eleventh century, 
which was described in dealing with the Investiture Conflict, 
there came a great outburst of zeal for pilgrimages to Palestine. 
The route followed from northern and western Europe was 
either overland, down the valley of the Danube, or else to some 
Mediterranean port (such as Marseilles in France, or Venice in 
Italy) and thence by small sailing vessels to the Syrian coast. 
On land the pilgrims usually traveled on foot, though nobles 




Pilgrim 

From a thirteenth 
century MS. 



138 



THE CRUSADES 



147. Causes 
of the 
crusades ; 
Desire to 
recover the 
Holy Sep- 
ulcher 



148 

of adven 

tare 



went on horseback. The greatest single company which went 
to the Holy Land, before the crusades, set out from Germany 
in the year 1064, and numbered 7000 persons. The danger 
which attended such expeditions is seen from the fact that out 
of this number only 2000 ever returned to their homes. The 
others perished on the way, — from sickness, hardship, accident, 
and conflicts with hostile peoples. 

Just at the time when pilgrimages were at their height, the 
Turkish conquests in Syria erected a new barrier to their prog- 
ress. West- 
ern Christendom 
was soon filled 
with tales of out- 
rages committed 
upon Christians 
and their shrines. The 
result was an outburst 
of indignation that the 
Sepulcher of Christ 
should be in the hands 
of the infidel. Men 
became ready to do 
all and sacrifice all to 
rescue the Holy Land 
from the hands of the 
unbelievers. This ex- 
alted state of mind, 
and the desire to re- 
cover the Holy Sepul- 
cher from Mohamme- 
dan hands, must be reckoned the chief cause of those armed 
pilgrimages which we call the crusades. 
Spirit ^ second cause of the crusades lay in the fact that 
the time had now come when the knights of western 
Europe might look about for wider fields of adventure. 
The Hungarian and Northman raids were over. Europe 




Church of the Holy Sepulcher 
Present condition 



THE FIRST CRUSADE 139 

was settling down to comparative peace and quiet under 
its feudal governments. The modern nations, with their prob- 
lems, had not yet arisen. Commerce and city life were still in 
their infancy. Thus there was no sufficient outlet at home for 
the spirit of adventure, which in the Middle Ages always ran 
high. 

The East, too, was regarded as a land of fabulous riches, where 
not only fame but fortune might be won. The hope of gain — 
of winning lands, principalities, and booty — was un- 149. Hope 
doubtedly a factor in causing the crusades. In this respect °^ sain 
the crusades resembled the movement of expansion which caused 
the Norman conquests of southern Italy and England, and the 
German advance eastward beyond the Elbe. Under the in- 
fluence of a hope of gain, "a. stream of emigration set towards 
the East, such as would in modern times flow towards a newly 
discovered gold-field — a stream carrying in its turbid waters 
much refuse, tramps and bankrupts, camp-followers and huck^ 
sters, fugitive monks and escaped villeins, and marked by the 
same motley grouping, the same fever of life, the same alterna- 
tions of affluence and beggary, which mark the rush for a gold- 
field to-day." 

Another powerful incentive was the hope of gaining spir- 
itual rewards, — the earthly as well as heavenly forgiveness for 
their misdeeds. A complete remission of all sins was prom- 150. Prom- 
ised to those who took part in these holy wars. By gp^i-jtual 
going upon a crusade a man earned an "indulgence" rewards 
which wiped out all accumulations of penances (ecclesiastical 
penalties) which the church had imposed upon him for his 
sins. He also gained protection in this world; for from the 
moment that a man "took the cross" the church took him under 
its protection, and forbade all attacks, even by way of legal pro- 
ceedings, upon his person or his property. Men conscious of 
their sins and wishing to make their peace with heaven, equally 
with wrongdoers who sought immunity from the consequences 
of their crimes, were thus appealed to by these rewards. 

Though the chief object of the crusades was the rescue of 



I40 THE CRUSADES 

Jerusalem from the hands of the infidels, the first call grew out 
of the danger which threatened the Eastern Empire. In 107 1, 
Ad- ^^® Turks defeated the forces of the Eastern Emperor in a 
vance of great battle, which caused almost the whole of Asia Minor 
* * ""^ ® to pass into their hands. One of their chieftains estab- 
lished himself at Nicaea, almost within sight of Constantinople, 
and took the title " Sultan of Roum (room), " — that is, of Rome, 
Several years passed before the Emperor Alexius Comne'nus 
found himself free to give Asia his attention. He then sent an 
embassy to the Pope, as the head of Latin Christendom, and 
sought to enlist western knights for the Turkish war. The re- 
sult was the calling of the First Crusade. 

Pope Urban II met the clergy and nobles of France in a great 
council at Clermont, in France, in 1095. He presented to this 
152. Coun- meeting the request of the Eastern Emperor for aid. Him- 
Clermont ^^^^ ^ Frenchman, he addressed his hearers with burning 
(1095) eloquence in their own tongue. "Christ Himself," he 

cried, "will be your leader when you fight for Jerusalem. Let 
not love of any earthly possession detain you. You dwell in a 
land narrow and unfertile. Your numbers overflow, and hence 
you devour one another in wars. Let these home discords 
cease. Start upon the way to the Holy Sepulcher; wrest the 
land from the accursed race, and subdue it to yourselves ! Thus 
shall you spoil your foes of their wealth, and return home vic- 
torious ; or else, purpled with your own blood, you shall receive 
an everlasting reward." 

To this appeal his hearers made answer: "It is the will of 
God ! It is the will of God ! " Those who pledged them- 
selves to the work received a cross of red cloth, to be worn on 
the breast going and on the back returning. The crusader 
(from Latin crux, a cross) was thus given the protection 
granted to pilgrims. On their part the crusaders were con- 
sidered to have taken a vow to fight the infidels, and not to 
return until they had beheld the Holy Sepulcher. 

Many of the common people, inflamed by popular preachers, 
undertook the crusade before the time set by the council, and 



THE FIRST CRUSADE 



141 



without adequate preparation. Their chief leaders were a monk 
called Peter the Hermit, and a knight named Walter the Pen- 
niless. Multitudes 153- The 
perished miserably t^rptoplt 
on the route down (1096) 
the Danube River, or left 
their bones to whiten the 
plains of Asia Minor. Only 
a few, more fortunate, es- 
caped to await the coming 
of the main crusade. 

In the summer and fall of 
1096 the lords and knights 
set out. They were pro- 
vided with sums of money, 
often obtained by the sale 

of their belongings at 154- The 

1 crusade of 
rumous prices; and j^nights 

they were accom- (i 096-1 097) 
panied by attendants on 
foot and by carts laden 
with provisions. The Pope 
had been asked to lead the 
crusade in person. He de- 
clined the request but com- 
missioned a bishop as his 
legate. There was no gen- 
eral leadership, each cru- 
sader going at his own cost, and obeying his own will. Nat- 
urally, however, individual crusaders grouped themselves about 
the better known nobles, — such as Raymond, count of Tou- 
louse (too-looz') ; Bo'hemond, son of Robert Guiscard ; Godfrey 
of Bouillon (boo-yoN') ; and Robert of Normandy, the son of 
William the Conqueror. 

The crusaders assembled at different places, and departed as 
they were ready. There were four main companies. The Ger- 




Crusader 
From a thirteenth century MS. 



142 THE CRUSADES 

mans and those from the north of France followed the valley 
of the Danube. Others traversed Italy, crossed the Adriatic, 

1 55. Cru- and proceeded thence by land to Constantinople. The 
saders at stateliness and beauty of that capital, in contrast with 
nopie the poverty and bareness of western cities, filled the cru- 
saders with awe and admiration. "How great a city it is; 
how noble and comely !" wrote one of their number. "What 
wondrously wrought monasteries and palaces are therein ! 

Ah d What marvels everywhere in street and square ! Tedious 
Kingsford, would it be to recite its wealth in all precious things, in 
Crusades, 50 g^j^ ^^^ silver, and in saintly rehcs." The Emperor 
Alexius had expected a few thousand men in response to his 
call, whereas scores of thousands came. "Some of the crusad- 
ers," wrote the Emperor's daughter, "were guileless men and 
women marching in all simplicity to worship at the tomb of 
Christ. But there were others of a more wicked kind. Such 
men had but one object, and this was to get possession of the 
Emperor's capital." Mutual hatreds quickly sprang up ; and 
the Emperor was glad, in the spring of 1097, to speed the 
"Franks " (as the crusaders were called) across into Asia Minor. 
After several weeks' siege, the city of Nicaea surrendered; it 
passed, however, not to the crusaders, but to the Greeks. Suf- 
fering from thirst and attacked by the Turks, the crusaders 
then made their way through Asia Minor, with the loss of most 
of their horses. To add to the difficulties of their situation, 
quarrels arose among rival leaders. In front of Antioch 
(an'tl-6k), which they reached in October, 1097, they were 
checked for more than a year by its strong walls and their lack 
of skill in the construction and operation of siege engines. 
The events of this period, and the sentiments of the crusaders, 

156. Letter ^^^ indicated in the following letter. It was written by 
of a cru- Stephen of Blois (blwa) , a powerful French noble, from 

er (109 befQj-e Antioch, in March, 1098 : — 

"Count Stephen to Adele, his sweetest and most amiable wije, to his 
dear children, and to all his vassals of all ranks, — his greeting and 
blessing : — 



THE FIRST CRUSADE 



143 



"You may be very sure, dearest, that the messenger whom I send 
left me before Antioch safe and unharmed, and through God's grace 
in the greatest prosperity. Already at that time we had been University 
continuously advancing for twenty-three weeks toward the oi Pennsyl- 

home of our Lord Jesus. You may know for certain, my be- ^^^^^' ^^"■n^- 

' "^ lahons, I, 

loved, that of gold, silver, and many other kinds of riches I No. 4 (con- 
now have twice as much as your love had assigned to me when densed) 
I left you. 

"You have certainly heard that, after the capture of the city of 
Nicaea, we fought a great battle with the perfidious Turks, and by 
God's aid conquered them. Next we conquered for the Lord the sul- 
tanate of Roum, and afterwards Cappadocia. Thence, continually 
following the wicked Turks, we drove them through Armenia, as far 
as the great river Euphrates. Having left all their baggage and beasts 
of burden on the bank, they fled across the river into Arabia. 

"The bolder of the Turkish soldiers, indeed, entering Syria, has- 
tened by forced marches, night and day, in order to be able to enter 
the royal city of Antioch before our approach. The whole jgy^ xhe 
army of God, learning this, gave due praise and thanks to the siege of 
omnipotent Lord. Hastening with great joy to Antioch, we •^'^ti°<^^ 
besieged it, and very often had many conflicts with the Turks, and 
seven times with the citizens of Antioch, and with the innumerable 
troops coming to its aid. In all these seven battles, by the aid of the 
Lord God, we conquered, and most assuredly killed an innumerable 
host of them. Many of our brethren and followers were killed also, 
and their souls were borne to the joys of Paradise. 

"By God's grace we here endured many sufferings and innumerable 
evils up to the present time. Many have already exhausted all their 
resources in this very holy passion. Before the city of Antioch, igg_ suffer- 
throughout the whole winter, we suffered for our Lord Christ ings of the 
from excessive cold and from enormous torrents of rain. What <^™saders 
some say about the impossibility of bearing the heat of the sun 
throughout Syria is untrue, for the winter there is very similar to our 
winter in the West. 

"When the emir of Antioch — that is, prince and lord — perceived 
that he was hard pressed by us, he sent his son to the prince who holds 
Jerusalem, and to the prince of Damascus, and to three other igg. vk- 
princes. These five emirs, with 12,000 picked Turkish horse- tories over 
men, suddenly came to aid the inhabitants of Antioch. We, *^® Turks 



144 



THE CRUSADES 



ignorant of all this, had sent many of our soldiers away to the cities 
and fortresses; for there are 165 cities and fortresses throughout 
Syria which are in our power. But a little before they reached the 
city, we attacked them at three leagues' distance with 700 soldiers. 
God fought for us, His faithful, against them. On that day we con- 
quered them and killed an innumerable multitude ; and we carried 
back to the army more than two hundred of their heads, in order that 
the people might rejoice on that account. 

" These which I write you are only a few things, dearest, of the many 
which we have done. And because I am not able to tell you, dearest, 
what is in my mind, I charge you to do right, to carefully watch over 
your land, to do your duty as you ought to your children and your 
vassals. You will certainly see me just as soon as I can possibly re- 
turn to you. Farewell." 

Antioch fell in June, 1098, betrayed to the crusaders by one 
of its inhabitants. Three days later an immense army sent by 

160 Ad- ^^^ Seljukian sultan arrived for its relief, and the crusaders 
vance to themselves were forced to stand siege. Through the aid 
Jerusalem ^£ ^ vision thrice repeated, the Holy Lance which pierced 

the side of Christ was discovered buried in the soil. Many dis- 
believed, but others were fired to prodigies of valor by the sacred 
relic. The Turks were at length beaten off, and the crusaders 
proceeded southward along the coast. 

Owing to quarrels and delays on the road, it was June, 1099, 
before they came in sight of Jerusalem. A few months before, 

161 Cap- ^^^ caliph of Egypt had wrested the city from the Turks ; 
ture of the and he now offered free access to the Holy Sepulcher for 
ci y (1099) unarmed pilgrims in small numbers. These terms were 

refused. After several weeks of fighting, an attack was made on 
the city from two sides. The Mohammedans were beaten back 
from the walls by showers of stones from the hurling machines, 
and blazing arrows carried fire to the roofs of the buildings. 
Battering rams broke openings in the solid walls, and by means 
of scaling ladders the Christians swarmed upon the ramparts. 
Thus the city fell (July 15, 1099). 

Then followed scenes which showed how little the teachings 
of Christ had sunk into the crusaders' hearts, and that in spite 



THE CONQUESTS ORGANIZED 



145 




of flashes of lofty idealism, the crusader in Palestine was little 
different from the rude, superstitious, selfish baron at home. 

"When our A,,her and 

men had Kingsford, 

taken the Crusades, g^ 

city, with its walls 
and towers," says 
an eyewitness, 
" there were things 
wondrous to be 
seen. For some 
of the enemy were 
reft of their heads, 
while others, riddled through with arrows, were forced to 
leap down from the towers ; others, after long torture, were 
burned in the flames. In all the streets and squares there were 
to be seen piles of heads, and hands, and feet; and along the 
public ways, foot and horse alike made passage over the bodies 
of the dead." 

The vow of the crusaders was fulfilled. But at what a cost 
of lives, both Christian and Mohammedan ; of agonies of battle 
and sufferings on the way ; of women made widows, and chil- 
dren left fatherless ! 



Hurling Machine 

The force was supplied by the twisted ropes about the 
crossbar to which the hurling arm was attached. 



C. The Conquests Organized 

The next task for the crusaders was to organize and safe- 
guard their conquests. They were familiar with only one form 
of government, that of the feudal system. Consequently, 162. Feudal 
as the land was gradually conquered it was divided into {^gg ^Jf ^ ^' 
a number of fiefs, each of which was given to a crusading Palestine 
leader. Jerusalem, with the country about it, was formed into 
"the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem" and was given to Godfrey 
of Bouillon. The rest was formed into three principalities, — 
Antioch, Edes'sa, and Tripoli, — each with its own feudal head, 
and with many vassal lords. The peasants — who were al- 



146 



THE CRUSADES 




PRINCU 

^p*^'^^ Lnocliceaj 
CYPRUS^ 

^ COUN-riY:^*, 
^ TRIPdLI/-^ EMIRATE 



ready, for the most part, Christians of various Eastern faiths — ■ 
kept their lands, paying tribute to their Latin masters, as they 

formerly had done to the Mo- 
hammedans. 

Most of the crusaders now re- 
turned to their homes in Europe, 
only those who had secured 
feudal lordships in Palestine re- 
maining behind. If the Mo- 
hammedans had been united 
they might easily have driven 
the Christians into the sea ; but 
they were quarreling among 
themselves, and besides had 
learned to fear the mail-clad 
'' Franks." The Christians were 
thus given time to prepare their 
defenses. Huge castles were 
everywhere built. New com- 
panies of crusaders also began to 
arrive; and Italian merchants 
— from Venice, Genoa, and 
Pisa (pe'sa) especially — came 
in large numbers for the pur- 
pose of trade. 

Besides the constant reen- 

forcements from the West, the 

Franks depended for the defense of the Holy Land on three 

jg The special orders of knighthood which now arose: (i) the 

three mill- Knights Hos'pitalers of Saint John, formed originally to 

tary orders ^^^^ ^^^ ^-^j, pilgrims ; (2) the Knights Templars, so called 

from their headquarters in the inclosure of the ancient temple of 

Jerusalem ; and (3) the Order of Teutonic Knights, which was 

composed of Germans, whereas the members of the others were 

mostly French. The Hospitalers wore a white cross on a black 

mantle, the Templars a red one on white, and the Teutonic 




Crusaders' States in Syria 
THE First Crusade 



THE CONQUESTS ORGANIZED 



147 



Knights a black cross on a white ground. The members of 
these orders were monks, vowed to poverty, chastity, and obedi- 
ence, and hving under a rule ; but they were also knights, trained 
to arms and bound to perpetual warfare against the infidel. 
They constituted a permanent force of military monks, resident 
in the Holy Land, with 




Knight Templar 
From a thirteenth century MS. 



their own grand-mas- 
ters, fortresses, do- 
mains, and treasuries. 
In course of time the 
military orders ac- 
quired immense pos- 
sessions in Europe also. 
After the end of the 
crusading epoch, the 
Templars were forcibly 
dissolved and their 
goods confiscated. 
The Teutonic Knights 
transferred themselves 
to the shores of the 
Baltic Sea, and there continued to wage war against the heathen. 
The Knights Hospitalers, taking refuge in Cyprus, in Rhodes, 
and finally in Malta, preserved an independent existence until 
the close of the eighteenth century. 

The Christian states founded by the crusaders extended north 
and south about 525 miles, but their breadth (except in the 
north) was only about 50 miles. They were surrounded 164. Rela- 

on nearly all sides by Mohammedan territory, so that bor- **°°^ °f 
, r , . T . r , Christians 

der warfare was almost mcessant. in spite of such con- and Mo- 

flicts, there was much intercourse of a friendly nature hammedans 
between the resident Franks and the Mohammedans, both 
without and within the borders of the Christian states. Some- 
times Prankish lords and Mohammedan princes formed alliances 
against mutual foes, and at times these alliances were cemented 
by intermarriages. The crusaders, being comparatively but 



148 



THE CRUSADES 



a handful of soldiers and traders, were compelled to rely largely 
upon the peoples of the East, both Christian and Mohammedan, 
for service and subsistence. Native Syrians tilled their lands; 




A Fortress of the Knights Hospitalers in Syria (Restoration) 

Greek and Arab architects built and adorned their houses and 
churches ; Greek engineers taught them the art of fortification ; 
and Jewish or Arab physicians cared for them in time of sickness. 
Thus in innumerable ways the Westerners profited by the more 
advanced civilization of the East ; and through the instrumen- 
tality of returning crusaders, more enlightened ideas, together 
with new products, slowly spread through western Europe. 



D. The Later Crusades 

The crusades continued throughout the twelfth and the 
greater part of the thirteenth centuries. It is customary to 
describe them as "First," "Second," and so on; but this ob- 
scures the fact that there was a constant movement of crusaders 



THE LATER CRUSADES 149 

to and from the Holy Land. At times some exceptional oc- 
currence produced an increase of zeal, and it is to these excep- 
tional expeditions that the numbers apply, though other 165- Con- 
movements of equal importance are passed by without ^^^ru- ° 
notice. Thus, forty-five years after the First Crusade the sades 
conquest of Edessa by the Mohammedans produced the Second 
Crusade (1147-1149). This was led by two kings, Louis VII of 
France, and Conrad III of Germany. It was miserably mis- 
managed, and failed lamentably. 

After another forty years, rumors began to reach Europe of a 
great Mohammedan leader who had arisen in Egypt and was 
threatening Palestine. This was Sal'adin, one of the 166. Rise of 
greatest rulers the Mohammedans ever had. He was wise Saiadin 
in counsel, brave in battle, and as chivalrous in conduct and 
sincere in his faith as the best of his Christian foes. In July, 
1 187, Saiadin captured in battle the king of Jerusalem and the 
grand master of the Templars. Three months later Jerusalem 
itself fell into his hands. The humanity with which the Chris- 
tian inhabitants were then treated was in marked contrast 
to the fearful slaughter which had attended the crusaders' 
capture of the city ninety years before. The Christian states 
thereafter were reduced to a few strongly fortified towns near 
the coast. 

The loss of Jerusalem caused another outburst of crusading 
zeal. The three greatest kings of western Europe — Richard 
I, the Lion-Hearted, of England ; Philip II, surnamed Au- 167. Third 
gustus, of France ; and Frederick Barbarossa, of Germany orga^zed 
— now took the cross, and assumed the lead of the Third (1189) 
Crusade. The Emperor Frederick, who had gone in his youth 
on the Second Crusade, was the first to start on the Third 
Crusade. Thorough organization and strict discipline enabled 
him to lead his army by the Danube route without the custom- 
ary losses. But while crossing a mountain torrent in Asia Minor 
the old Emperor was drowned (June, 11 90), and thereupon the 
German expedition went to pieces. 

The preparations of Richard and Philip were delayed by their 



I50 



THE CRUSADES 



1 68. Rich- 
ard the 
Lion- 
Hearted 
and Philip 
Augustus 



mutual hostilities, and it was not until after the death of 
Frederick that they actually started, both expeditions going 
by water. At Messina (mes-see'na), in Sicily, the two ex- 
peditions met and spent the winter. Here the two kings 
wrangled, and Richard fought with the citizens. Philip 
at last departed without Richard, reaching Syria in April, 
1 19 1. The EngHsh, following later, again turned aside 
— this time to conquer Cyprus, whose king had permitted the 
plunder of pilgrim vessels on his coast. 

In June, Richard joined Philip before Acre (a'ker), the siege 

of which had dragged on for more than twenty months. "The 

. V , Lord is not in the camp," wrote one of the besiegers about 

Kingsford, this date ; " there is none that doeth good. The leaders 

Crusades, 325 g|-j.jyg ^^{^^ one another, while the lesser folk starve and 

have none to help. The Turks are persistent in attack, while 

our knights skulk within their tents." The arrival of Richard 




Present View of Acre 



infused new energy into the operations. He was an undutiful 
son, an oppressive king, and (in spite of his superficial chivalry 
and courtesy) a violent and cruel man. But he was a warrior 
of splendid strength and skill, and one of the best military 
engineers of the Middle Ages. In July, Acre surrendered. 



THE LATER CRUSADES 



151 



When the ransom agreed upon was not forthcoming, Richard 
massacred 2000 hostages left in his hands. 

After the fall of Acre, Philip, who was only half-hearted in 
the crusade, returned to France. In January, 1192, Richard 
advanced almost to 
within sight of Jerusa- 
lem, but this was the 
limit of his successes. 
In October news of a 
rebellion at home, 
which was aided by 
Philip, forced him to 
return. He landed al- 
most alone at the head 
of the Adriatic Sea, and 
sought to make his way 
in disguise through 
Germany. He was rec- 
ognized near Vienna, 
and was thrown into 
prison by the duke of 
Austria, whom he had 
grievously offended on 
the crusade. He had 
made an enemy of the 
Emperor also by allying 
himself with German 
rebels. The result was 
that Richard obtained 
his liberty only after 

two years of captivity, and on the payment of a ruinous ran- 
som. The remainder of his life (he died in 1199) was spent in 
warfare with Philip of France. Saladin, who had done so much 
to revive the Mohammedan power, died in 1193. 

The enthusiasm which produced the crusades was slowly 
dying out, but the exhortations of the papacy could still call it 




Movable Tower 
Such as was used by Richard I against Acre 



152 



THE CRUSADES 



forth to momentary activity. Pope Innocent III (§ 130) ap- 
pealed to the princes of Europe, as vassals of Christ, to con- 
Fourth ti^^^ t^^ attempt to recover the Holy Land. No king 
responded to this call, but a number of knights and nobles 
(mostly French) gathered at Venice in 1201 for the Fourth 
Crusade. The Venetians, who had commercial interests to fur- 
ther, induced them to turn their arms against Constantinople. A 



169 

Crusade 
(1201-1204) 




Saladin's Empire, and the Results of the Fourth Crusade 



revolution there furnished them with a pretext, in spite of the 
opposition of the Pope, for attacking that Christian city. 

Constantinople fell in 1204, and was mercilessly sacked. In 
three great fires the most populous parts of the city were de- 
stroyed. Violence and indignity were the lot of the survivors ; 
Pope Innocent accused the crusaders of respecting neither age, 
nor sex, nor religious profession. The city was systematically 
pillaged. Even the churches were profaned and stripped of 
their rich hangings and their gold and silver vessels. Precious 
works of art — the accumulation of a thousand years — were 
destroyed ; and statues of brass and bronze were broken up and 
melted for the metal which they contained. The Venetians at 



THE LATER CRUSADES 



153 



this time carried off to Venice the four bronze horses which still 
adorn the front of Saint Mark's church. The more pious gave 




St. Mark's Church, Venice 

A notable example of the Byzantine style of architecture. Facade remodeled in 

fifteenth century 

themselves to the search for holy relics, — a venerable and profit- 
able booty. As a result of this sack, Constantinople lost forever 
that unique splendor which it possessed at the beginning of 
the crusades. 

In the division of the conquered territory the Venetians got 
the lion's share. They received practically a monopoly of the 
trade of the Eastern Empire, together with the possession 170. Latin 
of most of the islands and coast lands of the Aegean and Empire of 
Ionian seas. These conquests and privileges they retained nopie 
for centuries. The remainder of the empire (so far as it (1204-1261) 
came into the possession of the crusaders) was divided among 
their chiefs, and a feudal state was erected, the "Latin Empire 
of Constantinople." In 126 1 the Greeks reconquered Constanti- 



154 THE CRUSADES 

nople and restored the former empire. But it never regained 
its former strength. Its downfall before the assaults of the 
Turks, two centuries later (1453), was largely a result of the 
weakening of its resources by the Latin Christians at the time 
of the Fourth Crusade. 

A Children's Crusade, in 121 2, illustrated at once the folly. 
and the religious zeal which existed alongside of the self-seeking 

171. The • of princes and traders. A French shepherd boy named 
Crusade ^ Stephen claimed that he was commanded by Christ to 
(1212) lead an army of children to rescue the Holy Sepulcher. 

He induced thousands of boys and girls to follow him to Mar- 
seilles, in the belief that the sea would open up to give them pas- 
sage dry-shod to Palestine. Many perished miserably on the 
way ; the rest, still more miserable, were kidnaped and sold into 
slavery. In Germany a lad named Nicholas gathered a similar 
following of children, to the number, it is said, of 20,000. They 
succeeded in reaching Rome, where they were persuaded by 
the Pope to return home. 

Throughout the thirteenth century there was much talk of 
crusades, and Europe was often taxed for them; but little was 

172. The accomplished. When the Emperor Frederick II (§ 135) 
sade""' ^^ ^^^^ went to the Holy Land (12 28-1 2 29), he succeeded 
(1228-1291) in restoring Jerusalem for a time to the Christians. This, 

however, was due to wars among the Mohammedans, and Fred- 
erick's skillful diplomacy, and not to his victories. In 1244 
Jerusalem was again lost to the Turks, — this time finally. 
No great outburst of crusading zeal followed this calamity. 
However, in 1248, King Louis IX of France (" Saint Louis ") 
set out with a French army for Egypt, which since the beginning 
of the century had been recognized as the key to the Mohamme- 
dan power. He was successful for a time, but eventually was 
captured and forced to ransom himself by giving up his conquests 
and paying a large sum of money. In 1270 King Louis again 
undertook a crusade, this time to Tunis, where he died of the 
plague. Finally Acre — the last Christian post in Syria — 
fell in 1 291. 



RESULTS OF THE CRUSADES 1 55 

The reason that the crusades ceased, without having accom- 
plished their object, must be sought in the changed circumstances 
and attitude of Europe. The two centuries which had j-, ^J^l^y 
elapsed since their beginning had seen the following im- the crusades 
portant movements : the great struggle between the papacy 
and the empire ; the rise of commerce and of the towns (ch. ix) ; 
the origin and development of the universities and scholastic 
philosophy, the revived study of Roman law, and the rise of 
a lawyer class (ch. x) ; the decline of feudalism and the rise of 
monarchical states. The Europe of 1300 thus differed greatly 
from the Europe of iioo. The simple, uncalculating, religious 
enthusiasm for the recovery of the Sepulcher of Christ had given 
place to preoccupation with weighty problems nearer home. 
Men still talked of going on crusades, but they rendered only lip 
service to the cause. Perhaps they had begun to ask themselves 
what real difference it made whether Jerusalem was ruled by 
Christian or infidel, provided Christ ruled in their lives and 
hearts. Within another half century, Mohammedan power had 
passed from the Seljukian 'to the yet more formidable Ottoman 
Turks. Soon afterwards (1357) the Turks established them- 
selves on the European side of the Bosporus, and began that 
piecemeal conquest of the home provinces of the Eastern Empire 
which was completed a century later by the taking of Constan- 
tinople (§317). In the face of this new and formidable danger 
the resources of Europe were taxed to the utmost. Further 
expeditions to the Holy Land thenceforth were scarcely thought 
of. The age of the crusades was at an end. 

E. Results of the Crusades 

The tendency has been to exaggerate the influence of the 
crusades, and to lessen the importance of other factors in chang- 
ing the institutions and life of Europe. Nevertheless, ^^_ 
the migration year by year of thousands of persons to suits often 
and from the Mohammedan East, during a period of exaggerated 
nearly two centuries, could not but have important results for 



156 



THE CRUSADES 



the Christian West. The most important of these were as 
follows: — 

(i) In respect to military usages, Europe owed to the cru- 
sades the drum, trumpet, tents, quilted armor for the protection 

175. Mili- of the common soldier, the 

tary usages gurcoat worn over the 
knightly coat of mail, the whole 
system of armorial "bearings" 
(heraldic devices on shields, 
etc.) by which knights pro- 
claimed their family and line- 
age, and many improvements 
in the art of building and tak- 
ing fortified places. ' ' The siege 

Oman, His- of great fenced cities like 

tory of the ^icaea, Antioch, or Jeru- 

Art of War, ' ' •' 

526 




The 



Shield of Richard I 

'lions" of this shield became the 
arms of England. 



salem, " says a writer on 
the art of war, "was almost an 
education in itself to the en- 
gineers of the West." 

(2) On the development of commerce and city life, the cru- 
sades exerted a powerful influence. Italian cities such as Venice, 

176. Com- Pisa, and Genoa grew rich through the transportation of 

merce and pilgrims and crusaders and their supplies, and through 

the importation of eastern products into Europe. In the 

North, Rat'isbon, Augsburg, Nu'remberg, and the market towns 

of northern France developed as distributing centers for the, 

importations of Italy, and regular routes of inland commerce 

were established. Money became increasingly necessary ; banks 

Prutz, in were established, and means of exchange devised. "It 

International j.*ij'i.i. jn ri x.' 

Monthly IV "^^^ ^^^ Simply durmg the crusades, says a Crerman his- 
torian, "but as a result of them, and of the commerce 
which they had called into being, that money became a power, — 
we might almost say, a world power." 

(3) A multitude of new natural products and manufactures 
— such as sugar cane, buckwheat, rice, garlic, hemp ; the orange, 



268 



RESULTS OF THE CRUSADES 1 57 

watermelon, lemon, lime, and apricot ; new dyestuffs, cottons, 

muslins, damask, satin, and velvet — were introduced from the 

East in the Middle Ages. It is difficult, however, to say 177- New 

which of these came as a result of the crusades, and which ^'^ j "*^ ^ 

' ana manu- 

from peaceful intercourse with Constantinople, Syria, factures 
northern Africa, and Spain. .In this connection may be men- 
tioned certain changes in habits, such as the increased use of 
baths, an exaggerated taste for pepper and spices in foods, and 
the wearing of the beard. The introduction of windmills into 
Europe seems also to have been a result of the crusades. 

(4) The political and social organization of Europe was al- 
ready undergoing profound modification, and the crusades 
helped on the change. Crusaders often freed their serfs 178. Politi- 
to get money, or for the good of their souls. The wealth social 
gained by townsmen in commerce enabled them to buy results 

or wrest important rights of self-government from their lords. 
The feudal nobles, especially of France, were greatly weakened 
by the enormous waste of their numbers and resources in the 
East ; and the lower classes and the crown were correspondingly 
strengthened. In Germany, where as a class the nobles had 
little to do with the crusades, they were neither impoverished 
nor reduced in numbers, nor was their military and political 
importance diminished. For this reason, among others, Ger- 
many was later than France -in entering upon the path of social 
progress, industrial development, and real national unity. 

(5) The most important influence of all was in the world of 
thought. The hundreds of thousands who made the journey 

to the East had their minds stimulated and their mental infiu- 

horizons broadened by beholding new lands, new peoples, ences on 
and new customs. "They came from their castles and °"^ 
their villages," says a French writer, "having seen nothing, 
more ignorant than our peasants. They found them- Seignobos, in 
selves suddenly in great cities, in the midst of new coun- Lavisse and 

, ' .,. ,, T. Rambaud, 

tries, m the presence of unfamiliar usages. European Histoire Ge- 
knowledge of geography — especially of nearer and even nerale, li, 246 
of farther Asia — was greatly enlarged. Men who had "walked 



158 THE CRUSADES 

in new ways and seen new things and listened to new 
thoughts " experienced an inevitable broadening of view, and 
lost something of the narrow one-sidedness which was a mark 
of medieval culture. Thus the way was paved for the 
subtle change in intellectual atmosphere, beginning in the 
fourteenth century, which we style the Renaissance. This we 
may reckon the greatest though the most indefinite result 
of the whole crusading movement. But other factors, it 
must not be forgotten, were already working in the same 
direction. 

IMPORTANT DATES 

1096-1099. The First Crusade ; capture of Jerusalem. 

1 187. Recapture of Jerusalem by Saladin. 

1189-1192. The Third Crusade: Richard the Lion-Hearted and Philip 

Augustus. 
1204. The Fourth Crusade captures Constantinople. 
1229. Frederick 11 recovers Jerusalem by treaty; lost again, 1244. 
1248 and 1270. Crusades of Louis IX of France to Egypt and Txmis. 
129 1. Fall of Acre; end of the crusading movement. 

TOPICS AND REFERENCES 

Suggestive Topics. — (i) Make a list of the points in which Byzantine 
civilization was ahead of Western civilization. (2) Make a similar com- 
parison of Arabian civilization with that of western Europe. (3) Compare 
the coming of the Turks into the East with that of the Germans into the 
West. (4) Were the causes of the crusades more in external events or 
in the prevalence of a particular state of mind ? (5) What motives besides 
the religious one led Stephen of Blois to go on the crusade ? (6) Why did 
the crusaders slay the Mohammedans at Jerusalem? (7) Compare the 
organization and leadership of the Third Crusade with that of the First. 
Why did it accomplish less? (8) Was the Fourth Crusade more of a 
religious or a political war? (9) Why were the later crusades directed 
against Eg)T)t? (10) Did the crusades on the whole do more good or 
harm? 

Search Topics. — (i) The Eastern Empire before the Crusades. 
Munro, Middle Ages, ch. x; Bemont and Monod, Medieval Europe, ch. xxii; 
Munro and Sellery, Medieval Civilization, 212-224; Robinson, Readings, 
I, 340-343. — (2) Saracen Civilization. Munro, ch. ix; Thatcher and 
Schwill, Europe in the Middle Age, 357-360. — (3) Medieval Pilgrimages. 



TOPICS AND REFERENCES 1 59 

Jusserand, English Wayfaring Life, 338-403 ; Archer and Kingsford, Cru- 
sades, 15-17; Mombert, Short History of the Crusades, ch. i; Encyclopedia 
Britannica, "Pilgrimage." — (4) Council of Clermont. Archer and 
Kingsford, 28-33; Ogg) Source Book, 282-288; Robinson, Readings, 1, 312- 
316; Thatcher and McNeal, Source Book, 513-522. — (5) Motives of 
Crusaders. Adams, Civilization, 263-267 ; Robinson, Readings in European 
History, I, 312-340; Pennsylvania Reprints, I, Nos. 2, 2-8, 12-19; Thatcher 
and McNeal, 512-523. — (6) Peter the Hermit in Myth and in History. 
Thatcher and Schwill, 363-365; Thatcher and McNeal, Source Book, 523- 
526; Report of American Historical Association, 1900, I, 501-504. — (7) 
Relations of Crusaders with the Eastern Emperor. Archer and 
Kingsford, 51-54; Thatcher and Schwill, 368-370; Essays on the Crusades, 
Pt. Ill (Diehl, "The Byzantine Empire and the Crusades"). — (8) The 
Crusaders at Nicaea and Antioch. Archer and Kingsford, Crusades, 54- 
76; Thatcher and Schwill, 371-379. — (9) Capture of Jerusalem. Archer 
and Kingsford, 84-^92; Duncalf and Krey, Parallel Source Problems, 95- 
133. — ^(10) Templars AND Hospitalers. Archer and Kingsford, ch. xi; 
Wishart, Monks and Monasteries, 197-204; Cutts, Scenes and Characters of 
the Middle Ages, ch. iv. — (11) Christians and Mohammedans in Pales- 
tine. Archer and Kingsford, Crusades, 291-294; Essays on the Crusades 
(Munro, "Christian and Infidel in the Holy Land ") ; University of Penn- 
sylvania, Reprints, I, No. 4 ("Letters of 'the Crusaders written from the 
Holy Land"). — (12) Regulations for the Third Crusade. Archer, 
Crusade of Richard I, 8-10, 37-39. — (13) Richard the Lion-Hearted 
IN Palestine. Archer and Kingsford, ch. xxii ; Oman, Art of War, 303-317 ; 
Lane- Poole, Saladin, 279-299; Archer, Crusade of Richard I (sources). — 
(14) Saladin. Lane-Poole, ^a/aJira; Encyclopedia Britannica, "Saladin." 
— (15) Children's Crusade. Gray, The Children's Crusade; Cox, Cru- 
sades, 222-223 J Thatcher and Schwill, 424-425 ; Mombert, Short History of 
the Crusades, 234-236. — (16) Crusades of St. Louis. Archer and Kings- 
ford, 390-451; Vexiy, St. Louis, 154-195, 284-296; Thatcher and Schwill, 
427-429. 

General Reading. — The best histories in English are by Archer and 
Kingsford, Cox, and Mombert (the last-named somewhat uncritical). 
Sybel's History and Literature of the Crusades is still an excellent brief guide. 
Prutz, Munro, and Diehl, Essays on the Crusades (republished from the 
International Monthly) possesses great value. In the University of Penn- 
sylvania Translations and Reprints (Vol. I, Nos. 2 and 4, and Vol. Ill, No. 
i) are interesting documents ; while Archer's Crusade of Richard I is made 
up entirely of selections from the sources. Michaud's History of the 
Crusades (3 vols.) should be used with caution. 



CHAPTER IX 
LIFE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 

A. Life of the Nobles 

In the Middle Ages almost every defensible hilltop of western 
Europe was occupied by the frowning castle of some feudal 
i8o. The lord. To-day one sees their ivy-crowned ruins on every 
feudal castle jj^and. The castle of the earlier Middle Ages consisted 
merely of an inclosure of stakes or palisades set in the ground, 
with a ditch around it and a sort of blockhouse in the center. 
In the eleventh century men began to build stone castles; 
and soon the engineering skill of the Normans, together with the 
experience gained in the crusades, made these structures in- 
tricate and complex. 

The castle of Arques (ark) , built in Normandy (about 1040) by 
the uncle of William the Conqueror, is a type of the early stone 
castle. It was built upon a hilltop, and was defended by a pali- 
sade, ditch, and two drawbridges, with their outer works. It 
was surrounded by a thick "bailey" wall with battlements 
along the top, which was strengthened by towers placed at in- 
tervals of a bowshot. Entrance was gained through a narrow 
vaulted gateway, placed between two towers ; this was defended 
by heavy doors, and by "portcullises" (iron gratings descending 
from above). The inclosure within the wall was divided into 
an "outer ward" and an "inner ward." It contained separate 
buildings for stables, kitchen, and the like; and was large 
enough to shelter the surrounding population in time of war. 
At the extremity of the inner ward stood a strong tower called 
the "keep," which was the most important part of every castle. 
In early times the lord of the castle, with his family, lived in 
the keep; but its gloom and cold usually led to the erection 

160 



LIFE OF THE NOBLES 



l6l 



of a separate "hall" within the in closure for residence in time 
of peace. The keep of the castle of Arques was a triumph of 
complicated defenses. 
Its walls were eight 
to ten feet thick, with 
winding passageways 
and stairs concealed in 
them, and with cun- 
ningly devised pitfalls 
to trap the unwary. 
Here the last stand 
against an enemy was 
made. A postern gate 
in the outer wall, near 
the keep, gave a means 
of escape in case of de- 
feat. 

Of more elaborate 
type than the castle 
of Arques was the 
Chateau Gaillard (sha- 
to' ga-yar' ; " Saucy 
Castle"), erected on 
the borders of Nor- 
mandy by Richard the 
Lion-Hearted as a de- 
fense against Philip 
Augustus of France. 
The construction of this 
great work was completed in a single year. To Philip's boast 
that he would take it " though its walls were of iron," Richard 
defiantly answered that he " would hold the castle though its 
walls were of butter." And Richard proved the truer prophet. 

Hurling engines, movable towers, and battering rams were 
of little avail against such formidable castles. Until the in- 
troduction of gunpowder, they were usually taken only by 




Castle of Arques 
Restoration of VioUet-le-Duc 




Chateau Gaillard. Restoration of VioUet-le-Duc 



At A is shown a row of piles in the river Seine to prevent the passage of boats ; 
5 is a bridge ; C is the little town near which the castle stood. 



162 



LIFE OF THE .NOBLES 163 

treachery, surprise, starvation, or by undermining the walls. As 
the power of the kings increased, especially in France and Eng- 
land, the right of the nobles to erect castles was rigidly restricted. 
Luxury, too, came in, and gradually the castle lost its character 
of a fortress, and became merely a lordly dwelling place. 

The training of the feudal noble, like his habitation, was all 
for war. The church gave to this training a religious consecra- 
tion, and chivalry, or the ideals and usages of knighthood, jgj xrain- 
was the result. In his earlier years the young noble was ing for 
left to the care of his mother. At about the age of seven ^ °° 
he was sent to the castle of his father's lord, or to that of some 
other knight, and his training for knighthood began. With 
other lads he served his lord and mistress as page, waited at 
table, and attended them when they rode forth to the chase. 
From his lord and mistress he learned lessons of honor and 
bravery, of love and courtesy ; above all, he learned how to ride 
and to handle a horse. When he was a well-grown lad of four- 
teen or fifteen, he became a squire. He then looked after the 
grooming and shoeing of his lord's horses, and saw that his 
lord's arms were kept bright and free from rust. In war the 
squire accompanied his lord. He carried his lord's shield and 
lance, assisted in arming him for battle, and'Stayed watchfully 
at hand to aid him in case of need. 

When the squire reached the age of twenty or twenty-one, 
and had proved his courage and military skill, he was made a 
knight. The ceremony was often elaborate. First came a bath, 
— the mark of purification. Then the candidate put on gar- 
ments of red, white, and black, — red for the blood he must 
shed in defense of the church, white to image the purity of his 
mind, and black as a reminder of death. All night with fasting 
and prayer he watched his arms, before the altar of the church. 
With the morning came confession, the holy mass, and a sermon 
on the proud duties of a knight. . The actual knighting usually 
took place in the courtyard of the castle, in the presence of a 
numerous company of knights and ladies. The armor and sword 
were fastened on by friends and relatives. Then the lord gave 



1 64 LIFE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 

the "accolade," with a blow of his fist upon the young man's 
neck, or by touching him with the flat of his sword on the shoul- 
der, saying : "In the name of God, and Saint Michael, and Saint 
George, I dub thee knight ! Be^brave and loyal ! " Exhibitions 
of skill by the new-made knight followed, with feasting and 
the giving of presents. The details of the ceremony varied 
in different times and places. Frequently, after a battle, a 
squire who had shown distinguished bravery was knighted upon 
the battlefield, with nothing more than the accolade. 

The command "Be brave and loyal," summed up the qualities 

expected of the knight in the early Middle Ages. In the course 

t82. Ideals of time the ideals of knighthood came to include much 

of chivalry more than courage and loyalty to one's lord. Knighthood 

was then regarded as membership in an informal order or 

brotherhood, which had definite rules of conduct binding upon 

its members. The knight must be faithful to one ladylove, to 

his companions in arms, to his lord, his king, his country, and 

his God. He must defend the weak, particularly women and 

priests. He must be courteous, magnanimous to foes, true 

Gr en ^° » ^^^ plighted word, and generous to the needy. In 

Short His- practice this ideal was rarely attained. Too often 

^E^ I h ^ chivalry was only a " picturesque mimicry of high sen- 

People, ch. timcnt, of heroism, of love and courtesy, before which all 

IV, § 3 depth and reality of nobleness disappeared to make room 

for the coarsest profligacy, the narrowest caste spirit, and a 

brutal indifference to human suffering." 

The military superiority of the knight over the common man 

was due almost entirely to his equipment. Down to the 

183 Arms eleventh century, the knight's armor consisted of a leather 

and armor or cloth tunic covered with metal scales or rings (such as 

° * ® ^ * is shown in the picture of the battle of Hastings on p. 72), 

with an iron cap to protect the head. From the beginning of 

the twelfth century, the "hauberk" was usually worn. This 

was a coat of link- or chain-mail, often reaching to the feet, 

and possessing a hood to protect the neck and head. Plate 

armor — weighing fifty pounds or more — and the visored 



LIFE OF THE NOBLES 1 65 

helmet appear in the fourteenth century. A shield or buckler 
of wood and leather, bound with iron and emblazoned with 
the knight's coat of arms, was carried on the left arm. The 
weapons were chiefly the lance, the iron mace, and the straight 
sword. The weight of the armor made necessary a strong, 
heavy horse (the dextra'rius) to carry the warrior in battle. 
When on a journey he rode a lighter horse (the "palfrey"), 
while a squire or valet led the heavy horse, laden with the 
knight's armor. No number of foot soldiers of the ordinary 
sort could stand before mounted warriors thus equipped. It is 
in this military preeminence of the knight that we find one of 
the chief reasons for the long continuance of the feudal power. 

As war was the chief business of the noble, so the tournament 
— a sort of mimic battle — was his favorite amusement. The 
tournaments became elaborate entertainments, held jg 
especially on such occasions as the knighting of a king's Knightly 
son or the marriage of a great lord's daughter. Knights ^°^^^^^^^ ^ 
came from far and near to these contests, in order to display 
their prowess, or to recoup their fortunes from the spoil of de- 
feated opponents. At times the combat was between a single 
pair of horsemen ; at other times whole companies engaged on 
each side. Sometimes the conflict was with blunted swords 
and lances without heads ; at other times it was with ordinary 
weapons. The tournament was usually fought in "lists," or 
level spaces marked off by a rope or railing, and surrounded with 
places for the spectators. The knights wore the scarfs or colors 
of their ladies upon their helmets, and fought under the inspira- 
tion of their eyes. The vanquished in the contest forfeited 
his horse and armor to the victor, and had to ransom his 
person or remain captive. Fortunes were often lost and won 
at these tournaments. The sport was a bloody one, though 
usually more horses were slain than men. In spite of occasional 
prohibitions by kings and Popes, the tournament continued to 
be one of the chief amusements of the knightly classes until chiv- 
alry itself declined with the passing of the Middle Ages. 

The thick walls and narrow windows of the feudal castle made 



i66 



LIFE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 



nobles 



its apartments cold and dark in winter, and close in summer. 
The life of the nobles, therefore, was spent as much as possi- 
i8s Daily ^^^ ^^ ^^^ open air. After war and tournaments, the chase 
life of the was their chief outdoor amusement. It afforded training 
in the management of horse and weapons, and also served 
the very useful purpose of supplying the castle larder with game. 
Falconry — the flying of trained hawks at small game — be- 
came a complicated 
science with many 
technical terms, and 
was practiced with 
zest by ladies and 
lords alike; but the 
chase with hounds of 
deer, wild boars, and 
bears, was the more 
exciting sport. 
Within doors the 
chief amusements 
were chess, checkers, 
backgammon, and 
similar games. The 
great hall was the 
center of this life. 
About its large fire- 
place, master, mis- 
tress, children, and 
dependents gathered 
to play games, to 
listen to tales of travel and adventure from chance visitors, 
and to carry on household occupations. While the boys were 
trained to be knights, the girls learned to spin, sew, and em- 
broider, to care for wounds, and to direct a household. Like 
their brothers, they were often sent away from home for a time, 
to receive the finishing touches of their education as maids of 
honor to some noble lady. 




FALCOkRY 

From a German manuscript of the 13th century in 
the Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris 



LIFE OF THE NOBLES 



167 



The furniture of the castles was substantial but scanty. 
Embroidered tapestries hung amid the weapons on the walls, 
and skins were placed underfoot for the sake of warmth, ^g^ ^ t '- 
Chairs and benches, tables, chests, and wardrobes stood ture and 
about the hall. Perhaps the great corded bedstead of '^°^*"°^® 
the master and mistress — with its canopy, curtains, and 
feather bed — was also placed here ; but more often this oc- 
cupied a separate chamber. The men servants and attend- 
ants slept on the floor of the great hall, or in the towers along 
the bailey wall. 

Costumes varied with time and place, as did the armor. 
Long pointed shoes were invented by a count of Anjou to hide 
the deformity of his feet, and within a 
short time the style spread over Europe. 
Dress of the close-fitting Carolingian pat- 
tern was used until the end of the eleventh 
century, when it was displaced by long 
garments in imitation of those worn by the 
Byzantines. These were abandoned in the 
thirteenth century for other fashions. The 
headdresses of the ladies, especially in the 
later Middle Ages, were often as extraor- 
dinary as the pointed shoes which cov- 
ered the feet of the men. 

The secrets of dyeing were ' long in the 
hands of the Jews. In the thirteenth cen- 
tury the Italians learned the art, and the 
dyers then formed one of the most impor- 
tant guilds in Florence and other cities. 
Many dyestuffs were introduced into the 
West at the time of the crusades. Cochineal, which gives a 
brilliant red, was not known until the discovery of Mexico ; and 
the aniline dyes, which now are largely used, date only from the 
nineteenth century. It is not too much to say that the most 

1 The points of the fashionable long-pointed shoes were of ten fastened by cords or 
small chains to the garters, to facilitate walking. 




French Noble, 14TH 
Century 1 



1 68 LIFE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 

brilliantly tinted garments of the Middle Ages were poor and dull 
in hue compared with those now within reach of the poorest 
person. 

The meals were served in the hall, on easily removable trestle 
tables. Noble visitors were always welcome, and all except 
187 Food those actively engaged at the time took their places at 
of the the board according to rank. The viands were brought 

°° ^^ in covered dishes across the court from the kitchen, which 

was a separate building. Jugs and vessels of curious shapes, 
often in imitation of animals, were scattered about the table. 
Before each person was placed a knife and spoon, and a drink- 
ing cup, often of wood or horn. Forks were unknown until the 
end of the thirteenth century, and food was eaten from a common 
dish with the fingers. Before and after each meal, pages brought 
basins of water and towels for washing the hands. There were 
no napkins ; pieces of bread were used for cleansing the fingers 
during the meal, and then thrown under the table to the dogs. 
Dinner, served at midday, was announced by the blowing of 
horns. It was a long and substantial repast, consisting often 
of as many as ten or twelve courses, mostly meats and game. 
Dressed deer, pigs, and other animals were roasted whole on 
spits before an open fire. Roast swans, peacocks, and boars' 
heads are frequently mentioned in medieval writings. Pasties 
of venison and other game were common. On festal occasions 
live birds were sometimes placed in a pie, to be released "when 
the pie was opened" and hunted down with falcons in the hall 
at the close of the feast. Wine was drunk in great quantities. 
Pepper, cloves, ginger, and other spices were used by the wealthy 
in both food and drink, even the wines being peppered and 
honeyed. Coffee, tea, and all the native products of America 
(tobacco, Indian corn, potatoes, etc.) were of course unknown. 
The lavish waste of such a mode of life as here described kept 
the nobles in financial straits. It was one of the many causes 
of the decay of the feudal nobility, as compared with the 
growing power of the commercial classes who dwelt in the 
towns. 



LIFE OF THE PEASANTS 1 69 

B. Life of the Peasants 

Writers of the Middle Ages said that God had created three 
classes: knights to defend society, churchmen to pray, and 
peasants whose duty it was to till the soil and support igg. Serfs 
by their labor the other classes. The peasants were ^"^ villeins 
divided into serfs and villeins, (i) The serfs were personally 
unfree, i.e. they were "bound to the soil," and owed many 
special obligations to their lord. Unlike slaves, however, 
they possessed plots of land which they tilled, and usually 
could not be sold off the estate. (2) The villeins were per- 
sonally free and were exempt from the grievous burdens of the 
serfs. Equally with the serfs they owed their lord many menial 
services and dues for the land which they held of him. The 
dues took the form of money payments, and gifts of eggs, 
poultry, and part of the young of their flocks. The grinding 
of the peasants' meal, baking of their bread, pressing of their 
wine, oil, and cider, all had to be done with the lord's mill, oven, 
and press ; and heavy fees were charged for the use of these. 
The services which the peasants owed consisted chiefly in culti- 
vating the "demesne," or that part of the estate which was kept 
in the lord's own hand, and from which he drew the profits. 
Two or three days' work a week, with extra work at harvest 
and other times of need, was the usual amount exacted. 

During the later Middle Ages serfs were gradually raised to 
the rank of villeins; and villein services were precisely fixed, 
and finally commuted for the payment of small money 189. Grad- 
rents. This emancipation of the peasants came much ^ent^of^'^" 
later in some countries than in others. In France it was, their lot 
for the most part, accomplished before the opening of the 
Hundred Years' War (1337). There still existed some serfs 
in France, however, when the French Revolution began, in 
1789. In England, as we shall see, the emancipation of the serfs 
began later than in France, but was practically completed by 
the time of the Reformation. Germany was more backward, 
and it was not until the nineteenth century that the serfs were 



170 LIFE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 

freed in Prussia. Poland and Russia were more backward 
still. 

The peasants dwelt in villages, often situated at the foot of 
. the hill on which stood the lord's manor house or castle. Near 
100 Houses ^y ^^^ ^^^ parish church, with an open space in front and 
and furni- a graveyard attached. The peasants' houses usually 
^^^^ consisted of but one room. They were fhmsy structures, of 

wood or of wattled sticks plastered with mud, and were thatched 
with straw. There were few windows, no floors, and no 
chimneys. The door was often made in two parts, so that the 
upper portion could be opened to permit the smoke to escape. 
The cattle were housed under the same roof with the family, 
as is still the case in some parts of rural Switzerland and Ger- 
many. The streets were unpaved, and were often impassable 
with filth. About each house usually lay a small, ill-tended 
garden. 

Within the houses there was very little furniture. Here is 
a list of the things which one well-to-do peasant family in France 
owned in the year 1345 : — 

2 feather beds, 15 linen sheets, and 4 striped yellow counterpanes. 

1 hand-mill for grinding meal, a pestle and mortar for pounding grain, 

2 grain chests, a kneading trough, and 2 ovens over which coals 
could be heaped for baking. 

2 iron tripods on which to hang kettles over the fire; 2 metal pots 
and I large kettle. 

1 metal bowl, 2 brass water jugs, 4 bottles, a copper box, a tin wash- 
tub, a metal warming-pan, 2 large chests, a box, a cupboard, 4 
tables. on trestles, a large table, and a bench. 

2 axes, 4 lances, a crossbow, a scythe, and some other tools. 

The lands from which the villagers drew their Hving lay about 

the village in several great unfenced or "open" fields, normally 

loi Me- three. Besides these fields, there were "common" lands 

dieval agri- to which each villager sent a certain number of cattle 

*^ ^^^ ' or sheep for pasturage ; and the woodland and waste, 

to which the peasants went for fuel, and in which they might 

turn a limited number of pigs to feed on the acorns and nuts. 



LIFE OF THE PEASANTS 



171 



The rights of hunting and fishing belonged exclusively to the 
lord and were jealously guarded. 

The time not taken up with labors on the lord's demesne was 
used by the peasant in tilling his own small holding in the open 
fields. A full villein 
holding usually con- 
sisted of about thirty 
acres, scattered in long 
narrow strips in the 
different fields, and in- 
termixed with the 
holdings of other ten- 
ants. The origin of 
this curious system of 
intermixed holdings in 
open fields has never 
been satisfactorily ex- 
plained ; but it existed 
over the greater part 
of western Europe and 
lasted far down into 
modern times. The 
different strips were 
separated from one 
another by "balks" of 
unplowed turf. The 
plows were clumsy 
wooden affairs, which 
penetrated little below 
the surface. They 
were drawn by teams 
of from four to eight 
oxen ; but the cattle 




Plan of a Village with Open Fields 

From a plan of the Common Field of Burton-Agnes, 
Yorkshire, England. The shaded strips, about 
one tenth of the whole, were the parson's share, 
or glebe. The lord's demesne usually consisted 
of strips similarly distributed. 



of the Middle Ages were smaller than those produced by 
scientific breeding to-day. 
A rude rotation of crops was practiced to avoid exhausting 



172 



LIFE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 




Plowing 




Breaking Clods 




Harrowing 




Reaping 



LIFE OF THE PEASANTS 1 73 

the soil. All the strips in a given field were planted with a win- 
ter grain (wheat) one year, the next year with a spring grain 
(oats), and the third year were plowed and lay fallow. Thus 
one third of the land was always resting. Under this primitive 
system of agriculture the yield was far less than now. In Eng- 
land, at the dose of the thirteenth century, wheat yielded as 
low as six bushels an acre, and nine or ten bushels was probably 
a full average crop. 

Bee-keeping was more usual in the Middle Ages than in 
modern times. The honey was used instead of sugar for almost 
all purposes of sweetening, and the wax was needed to ^^^^^i 

make the tall candles in the churches, and also the seals manor self- 
used on official documents. Every great estate or ^" ""^ 
"manor" was self-supporting to a surprising extent. Ale 
was home-brewed ; wool was spun and cloth woven in the house- 
hold ; and the village blacksmith and carpenter performed the 
services beyond the powers of the household circle. For salt, 
and the rare articles that the village did not itself produce, the 
people of the manor resorted to periodical markets and fairs 
in neighboring towns. 

Except in time of war and famine, the condition of the peasant 
in the thirteenth century was not so bad as it became in later 
times. He was assured of a rude plenty, for his posses- 193- ten- 
sion of land saved him from the grinding poverty which ^j^^ of "he" 
to-day is the lot of the unemployed. But his labor was peasants 
incessant, and his food, clothing, and habitation were of the 
rudest and poorest. He was ignorant and superstitious, and 
oppression made him sullen. He was a butt for the wit of the 
noble classes and the courtly poets, and the name "villain" 
(villein) has been handed down to us as the synonym for all that 
is base. In a poem — which was doubtless written to please le Despit 
the nobles — the writer scolds at the villein because he was ?^ Vilam, 
too well fed, and (as he says) "made faces" at the clergy, uistoire des ' 
"Ought he to eat fish?" the poet asks. "Let him eat Paysans,498 
thistles, briars, thorns, and straw, on Sunday for fodder ; and pea- 
husks during the week ! Let him keep watch all his days, and 



174 LIFE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 

have trouble. Thus ought villeins to live. Ought he to eat 
meats ? He ought to go naked on all fours, and crop herbs 
with the horned cattle in the fields!" With such sentiments 
animating the masters, it is not surprising that, as time went on, 
many and terrible uprisings of the peasants broke out against 
their feudal lords. 

C. Medieval Cities and Commerce 

The economic life of the medieval monasteries and manors 
was almost entirely agricultural. City life, which had declined 
Revi- with the Germanic invasions, began to revive in the 
val of city eleventh century, and then a slow transformation set in 
® which made the life of the time more complex. Manu- 

factures and commerce arose again ; and the industrial isola- 
tion and self-sufiiciency of the earlier period gave place to an 
interdependence of communities and classes. Alongside the 
armored knight and the tonsured "clerk," there now appeared 
the sturdy figure of the "burgher," or townsman. To the two 
upper classes, or "estates," of society (the nobility and the 
clergy), there was added the Third Estate, composed of the 
citizens of the towns. The burghers grew rich and powerful, and 
in time came to look down on the masses of unskilled laborers 
and peasants below them with almost as much contempt as 
that with which they themselves were regarded by the nobles 
and higher clergy. The twelfth and the thirteenth centuries 
were the time of the most rapid growth of this new power. 

In the chapter on the Hohenstaufen Empire brief mention 
has been made of the revival of city life in Italy (§ 120). The 
movement came earlier there than elsewhere largely because 
the location of Italy encouraged Mediterranean trade ; and this 
same factor influenced the growth of the towns of southern 
France as well, where they began to develop at about the same 
time as those in Italy. The movement spread also to northern 
France, and along the trade routes over the Alps to the Danube 
and Rhine valleys, whence it passed to the coasts of the Baltic 



MEDIEVAL CITIES AND COMMERCE 175 

Sea. In England the towns developed later than on the Con- 
tinent, and in that land they never gained so much political 
power and independence as elsewhere in Europe. 

The towns of the Middle Ages arose in various ways. Many 
of them occupied the sites of ancient Roman cities. Although 
Roman municipal governments had perished everywhere origin 

in western Europe at the time of the Germanic invasions, of the 
the survival of the material features of the Roman cities, "^""^^ 
— such as their walls, streets, and buildings, — and the favor- 
able location for commerce which they occupied, aided the re- 
vival and growth of city life. Cities also arose in course of 
time about many centers where towns had not previously 
existed. In some places the center of such growth was a 
monastery which offered employment and protection to artisans 
and peasants. In other places the center was some strong castle, 
placed perhaps at the ford of a river or other location favorable 
for commerce. In many cases the growth of the town was the 
result of a right to hold a fair or periodical market at the place 
in question. Kings and lords frequently granted to a village 
or a group of merchants such rights, and the natural result was 
a concentration of industry and commerce, and the slow rise 
of a city organization. 

The inhabitants of these centers of population were at first 
mere serfs and villeins, under the feudal lordship of the neigh- 
boring monastery, bishop, or lord. As commerce and 196. Free- 
wealth increased, a desire for freedom and self-government ggif.goy. 
grew, but their attainment came only gradually and was emment 
the result of the cooperation of several factors. Union among 
the inhabitants was perhaps first fostered by the necessity of 
erecting or repairing the city walls and of protecting their rights 
of trade ; but organizations for religious purposes also helped to 
bind them together. In course of time organizations called 
guilds arose (§ 200) and proved a powerful aid in uniting and 
strengthening the townsmen; for it was discovered that it was 
easier for them when organized in such bodies, to obtain con- 
cessions from the lord than for single individuals to do so. 



176 



LIFE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 



The crusades favored the growth of towns, aHke by stimulat- 
ing commerce, by weakening the powers of resistance of the 
feudal nobles, and by creating a need for money which the towns- 
men were willing to furnish in return for grants of privileges. 
Sometimes the townsmen bought their freedom from their 
lords ; sometimes they won it after long struggles and much 
fighting. Sometimes the nobles and the clergy were wise enough 
to join with the townsmen, and share in the benefits which 
the town brought ; sometimes they fought them foolishly and 
bitterly. In Italy the feudal nobles were forced to throw in 
their lot with the towns, and to take up their residence for 




A Medieval Italian Town (Siena) 
Showing the battlemented towers of rival families 

part of every year within the city walls. Danger from without 
was thus reduced, but another danger followed. Every Italian 
city soon bristled with tall, battlemented towers, the strongholds 
of rival clans ; and family, factional, and regional fights, the 
expression of hereditary hatreds, became alarmingly frequent. 
In Germany and in Italy, the power of the king was not great 
enough to make much difference one way or the other. In 
France, the kings favored the towns against their lords, and 
used them to break down the power of the feudal nobles. Then, 
when the kings' power had become so strong that they no longer 
feared the nobles, they checked the power of the towns, lest they 
in turn might become powerful and independent. 



MEDIEVAL CITIES AND COMMERCE 177 

The rights won by the townsmen were embodied in written 
charters, which were carefully preserved in the great archive 
chests of their town halls. The privileges granted ranged ^ „ qjj^j._ 
from (i) mere safeguards against oppression at the hands ters of the 
of the lord's ofi&cials, who still composed the only municipal °^°^ 
government, to (2) grants of complete administrative and judicial 
independence, with a government chosen by the citizens. 

Towns which secured the right to elect their own officers and 
govern themselves were called "communes." They had greater 
unity and greater legal privileges than towns which were 198- Towns 
not communes.^ Often they entered into the feudal struc- ^fgel"^ 
ture, both as vassals and as suzerains. They were government 
ruled either (as in northern France) by a mayor and aldermen, or 
(in southern France and Italy) by a board of "consuls" without 
a mayor. The outward signs of a commune were (i) the 
possession of a corporate seal, (2) of a belfry, which served as 
watch tower, depot of archives, and magazine of arms, and (3) of 
stocks and pillory for the punishment of offenders. The charter 
of a commune was usually the outcome of a long series of dis- 
agreements, usurpations, and bloody insurrections ; and frequent 
payments to lord and overlord were necessary to preserve its 
hard-won liberties. The commune governments were free 
in the sense that they were practically exempt from external 

1 The charter granted the Uttle town of Lorris is an example of the grants to towns 
which were not communes. It contains the following provisions: (i) No townsman 
shall pay more than a small quitrent for his house and each acre of land. (2) He shall 
pay no toll on grain and wine of his own production, nor on his purchases at the 
Wednesday market. (3) He shall not be obUged to go to war for his lord unless 
he can return the same day. (4) He shall not be forced to go outside the town 
for the trial of his lawsuits, and various specific abuses connected with the courts 
shall be reformed. (5) No one shall be required to work for the lord, except to 
bring wood to his kitchen, and to take his wine twice a year to Orleans, and then 
only those who have horses and carts, and after due notice. (6) No charge shall 
be made for the use of the oven, nor for the public crier at marriages ; and the dead 
wood in the forest may be taken by the men of Lorris for their own use. (7) Who- 
ever wishes may sell his property and freely depart ; and any stranger who remains 
a year and a day, without being claimed by his lord, shall be free. 

This charter proved so popular that it was copied, in whole or in part, by eighty- 
three other towns of France. It was profitable alike to the little towns that received 
it and to the lords who granted it. 



178 



LIFE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 



control. Their citizens, however, were often far from enjoying 
individual liberty, for the member of a commune was bound to 
his town as closely as 
a serf to the soil. He 
belonged all his life to 
a certain class, to a 
trade, to a guild, to a 
parish, to a ward. The 
city government reg- 
ulated his private life 
as minutely as his 
guild did the carrying 
on of his business. The 
number of trees he 
might plant in his or- 
chard, the number of 
priests and candles he 
might employ at fu- 
nerals, were often pre- 
cisely regulated. 

The medieval towns 
were crowded within 
walls, which (like the 
castles) were defended 
by battlements and 
towers. Outside lay 

199. Daily the settlements 

life in the (called in France 

^"^^^ faubourgs) oi the 

unprivileged inhabit- 
ants. In the belfry, 
watch was kept day 
and night. Its warn- 
ing bell announced the approach of enemies ; it sounded the 
alarm of fire, the summons to court and to council, and the 
hours for beginning and quitting work ; it also rang the 




Belfry of Bruges 
Built from 1291 to about 1390 ; 352 feet high 



MEDIEVAL CITIES AND COMMERCE 179 

"curfew" (couvre feu) at night, which was the signal to 
extinguish lights and cover fires. The streets were narrow, 
unpaved, and full of mudholes; and hogs and other animals 
roamed them at pleasure. Extensive gardens belonging to • 
convents and hospitals caused the streets to twist and turn, and 
presented rare glimpses of green amid the wilderness of high 
pointed roofs. 

In the thirteenth century the wealthier citizens began to erect 
comfortable houses. The ground-floor front was usually taken 
up by an arched window-opening in which the merchant dis- 
played his wares. In the rear was carried on the manufacture 
of the articles sold in the shop. The shopkeepers were 
grouped by trades. Here was the street of the tanners, there 
that of the goldsmiths; elsewhere were the drapers, armor 
makers, parchment makers, and money changers. Churches, of 
which great numbers were built in the thirteenth century, rose 
amid the shops and houses, which pressed up to their very 
walls. In towns which were the seats of bishops, giant cathe- 
drals towered above everything else. The business quarters, with 
their open booths and stalls placed in the streets, resembled 
bazaars, through which pedestrians could with difficulty thread 
their way. Horses and carts were obliged to seek less crowded 
thoroughfares. At meal time, business ceased and booths were 
closed. When curfew sounded at the close of day, the streets 
became silent and deserted, — save for the watch, making 
their appointed rounds, and the adventurous few whom ne- 
cessity or pleasure led to brave the dangers of the unlighted 
streets. 

In the twelfth century the chief Occupation of the citizens 
was still agriculture; but under the protection afforded by 
town walls and charters, and by the growing power of the ^oo Indus- 
king, industry and commerce developed rapidly. Manu- try and the 
facturing was carried on entirely by hand labor, and the ^"°^ 
tools were those which had been employed by workmen from 
times immemorial. Each trade was organized into a guild, 
which laid down rules for carrying it on and had the power to 






°£ \/<^ Danzig 
'tP'^piburg "^ ° Stettin. 




Longitude 



180 




iSj; 



l82 LIFE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 

inspect goods and to confiscate inferior products. The guilds- 
men were divided into three classes : (i) the apprentices, who 
served from three to thirteen years, and paid considerable sums 
for their instruction ; (2) the workmen ("journeymen"), who 
had finished their apprenticeship and received wages ; and 
C3) the masters, who had risen in the trade and had become 
employers. 

Apprentices and workmen were lodged and fed with the 
master's family above the shop. It was usually easy for a frugal 
workman to save enough to set up as* a master in his turn. 
Under these conditions antagonism between capital and labor 
did not exist. The guilds had religious, benevolent, and social 
features, in addition to their industrial functions. Each guild 
maintained a common fund, made up largely of fines assessed 
upon members for breaches of the guild regulations. This was 
used for feasting, for masses, for the relief of the sick and for the 
burial of dead members. Guilds formed of members pursuing 
the same trade, such as weaving or dyeing, were called craft 
guilds. Older, richer, and more influential in developing the 
liberties of the towns, were the merchant guilds, the members 
of which engaged in more distant commerce. 

After the Germanic invasions, commerce had for a time almost 
ceased. There was little demand for foreign wares or costly 
201. Me- articles of luxury, and the roads were too insecure to make 
dieval com- the transportation of goods profitable. Under the early 
feudal regime, where downright robbery was not practiced, 
the lords exacted ruinous tolls at every bridge, market, and high- 
way. It was only after the crusades had stimulated enterprise 
and created new tastes that commerce played a chief part 
in medieval life. 

The Italian towns, because of their central position in the 
Mediterranean, were the first to feel this quickening impulse, and 
Amalfi (a-mal'fe), Pisa, Genoa, and Venice early became impor- 
tant commercial centers. The trade of Venice was originally con- 
fined to salt and fish, the products of its waters. In the time of 
the crusades it developed a vast commerce in spices, perfumes, 



MEDIEVAL CITIES AND COMMERCE 



183 




sugar, silks, and other goods, which came from the East by way 
of the Persian Gulf or the Red Sea. In the fourteenth century 
Venice possessed a merchant 
marine of three thousand ves- 
sels, and each year sent large 
fleets through the Strait of Gi- 
braltar to Flanders and the Eng- 
lish seaports. Land routes led 
from Venice over the Brenner 
and Julier (zhii-lya') passes of 
the Alps to the upper Danube 
and the Rhine, where they 
joined the route from Constan- 
tinople and the Black Sea. Ve- 
netian trade enriched Augsburg, 
Ratisbon, Ulm, Nuremberg, and 
a host of towns on the Rhine 
River. From Genoa a much- 
traveled route (until blocked by 
the Hundred Years' War, ch. 
xiii) led through France by way 
of the river Rhone. The great northern market for all this 
commerce was Bruges (briizh), where products of the South and 
East were exchanged for the furs, amber, fish, and woolen cloths 
of the North. Merchants from seventeen kingdoms had set- 
tled homes in Bruges, and strangers journeyed thither from 
all parts of the known world. In the fifteenth century Antwerp 
wrested from Bruges this preeminence, largely as a result of the 
untrammeled freedom of trade which it granted. 

Great fairs were held periodically in certain cities, under the 
license of the king or of some great lord who profited by the fees 
paid to him. Such fairs were a necessity in a time when or- ^^^ com- 
dinary villages were entirely without shops, and merchants, mercial or- 
even in cities and towns, carried only a limited variety s^^i^^tio^s. 
and quantity of goods. Examples were the fairs in England 
held at Smithfield (just outside of London) and at Stourbridge ; 



Venetian Ships 

From a painting by Carpaccio in 
Venice 



184 LIFE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 

in France at Beaucaire (bo-car') and Troyes (trwa) ; and in Ger- 
many at Leipzig (iTp'sik) and Frankfort-on-the-Main. To these 
cities, during the time that the fair was held, came merchants 
and traders from all over Europe ; and thither, too, came the 



A Medieval Fair. Depicted by Parmentier in Album Historique 

people for miles around to lay in their yearly stock of neces- 
saries or to sell the products of their industry. 

In the Middle Ages merchants seldom traded as individuals, 
nor did they look to the state to protect their interests abroad, as 
is to-day the case. They traded rather as members (i) of the 
merchant guild of their town, which often secured special rights 
and exclusive privileges in oth,er towns and countries ; or (2) of 
some commercial company, such as that of the Medici of Florence 
(§ 331); or (3) of some great confederacy of towns, such as the 
Hanseatic (han-se-at'ic) League of northern Germany. 

The Hanseatic League gradually arose from a union of 
German merchants abroad and German towns at home. Its 
objects were common defense, security of traflfic by land and 
sea, settlement of disputes between members, and the acquiring 



MEDIEVAL CITIES AND COMMERCE 185 

and maintaining of special privileges in foreign countries. A 
chief article of its commerce was herring and other salt fish, 
which were consumed in enormous quantities all over 203. Han- 
Europe, owing to the rules of the church which forbade League 
the eating of meat on Fridays and for the forty days during (1200-1450) 
Lent. Other articles of trade were timber, pitch, furs, amber, 
and grain. The league was completely formed by the thirteenth 
century. At its greatest extent, it included more than ninety 
cities of the Baltic and North Sea regions, both seaports and 
inland towns. Lii'beek (on the Baltic) was its capital, and there 
its congresses were held and its records kept. Hamburg, Brem'en, 
Cologne (co-Ion'), Danzig (dan'tsiK), and Wisby (on the island 
of Gothland) were important members of the league. Ware- 
houses and trading stations were maintained at Nov'gorod in 
Russia, Bergen (ber'gen) in Norway, Bruges in Flanders, and 
London in England. 

In the fourteenth century the Hanseatic League was drawn 
into a series of wars with Denmark. It then became a great 
political confederation, with frequent assemblies, a federal tax, 
and a federal navy and military forces. After 1450 came a 
period of decay. This was due to the rise of foreign competi- 
tion in trade, to the revival of Denmark, to the consolidation 
of the power of the German princes, and to an unexplained 
shifting of the herring " schools " from the Baltic to more distant 
feeding grounds. The final downfall of the Hanseatic League, 
however, did not come until the Thirty Years' War, in the 
seventeenth century. The part which this civic league played 
in promoting trade, suppressing piracy and robbery, training the 
people to orderly life and liberty, and spreading comforts and 
conveniences in half-barbarous lands, can scarcely be overesti- 
mated. It was the great agency in advancing, in northern 
Germany and neighboring lands, that civilization and enlighten- 
ment which it was the work of the towns in general to promote 
throughout Europe. 

In the rise of the townsmen, or Third Estate, lay the seeds 
of a whole series of future revolutions. 



l86 LIFE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 



TOPICS AND REFERENCES 

Suggestive Topics. — (i) Point out in the pictures the different parts of a 
castle. (2) What were the good features of chivalry ? Its defects ? (3) 
Find different types of armor in the illustrations of this book. (4) Mention 
any spectacles or amusements to-day which take the place of tourna- 
ments. (5) What part of your training was almost wholly omitted in the 
case of medieval boys and girls ? (6) Make a list of some of the necessaries 
of modern life which were lacking in the Middle Ages. (7) Compare the life 
of the farmer to-day with that of the medieval peasant. (8) Compare the 
position of the workingman of to-day with that of the guild artisan. (9) What 
advantages did the towns gain from their charters ? (10) What differences 
would you note between a medieval commime and a modern city ? (11) Com- 
pare the commerce of the Middle Ages with that of to-day in respect to its ex- 
tent, organization, commodities dealt in, and means of transport. (12) Why 
do we not have to-day such organizations as the Hanseatic League ? 

Search Topics. — (i) Chivalry. Gautier, C/fiw/r^y, ch. i ; Cornish, CfeV 
alry, ch. xvi ; Cutts, Scenes and Characters, 353-368, 406-438 ; Henderson, 
Short History of Germany, 11 2-1 21 ; Munro, Middle Ages, 240-247 ; Bemont 
and Monod, Medieval Etirope, 257-262; Seignobos, Feudal Regime, 32-34, 
64-65; Ada,m.s, Civilization during the Middle Ages, 276-277. — (2) Descrip- 
tions OF Typical Manors. Seebohm, English Village Community, 
1-13, 22-32; University of Pennsylvania, 'Reprints, III, No. 5, 1-24, 31-32; 
Robinson, Readings in European History, 399-406; Cheyney, Readings in 
English History, 212-217. — (3) Medieval Methods of Agriculture. 
Cheyney, Industrial and Social History of England, 33-39; Cunningham, 
Outlines of English Industrial History, 166-175; Encyclopedia Britannica 
(nth ed.), I, 389-390. — (4) Origin of Medieval Towns. Giry and 
R6ville, Emancipation of the Medieval Towns, ch. i. — (5) How the Towns 
Obtained their Liberties. Emerton, Medieval Europe, 528-538; Giry 
and Reville, Emancipation of the Medieval Towns. — (6) Outward Appear- 
ance OF A Medieval Town. Munro and Sellery, Medieval Civilization, 
358-365; Munro, Middle Ages, 154-155; Seignobos, Medieval and Modern 
Civilization, 171-172. — (7) The Merchant Guild. Cheyney, Social and 
Industrial History of England, 59-64; Cunningham, Outlines of English 
Industrial History, 54-56. ■ — (8) The Craft Guilds. Cheyney, Social 
and Industrial History of England, 64-71 ; Seignobos, Medieval and Modern 
Civilization, 165-167; Robinson, Readings in European History, I, 409-412; 
Cheyney, Readings, 209-211. — (9) Markets and Fairs. Cheyney, 
Social and Industrial History of England, 75-79 ; Cutts, Scenes and Charac- 
ters, 506-508 ; Gibbins, History of Commerce, 77-82 ; Traill, Social England, 
I, 460-470. — (10) Travel in the Middle Ages. Jusserand, English 
Wayfaring Life, Pt. I. — (11) Commerce of Venice in the Middle Ages. 



TOPICS AND REFERENCES 187 

Weil, Navy of Venice, 314-322; Hazlitt, Venetian Republic, IV, ch. xxv. — 
(12) Hanseatic League. Henderson, Short History of Germany, 181-202; 
Gibbins, History of Commerce, ch. iv; Seignobos, Medieval and Modern 
Civilization, 168-1 70 ; Zimmern, The Hansa Towns. — (13) The Jews in the 
Middle Ages. Jacobs, The Jews of Angevin England (Introduction) ; 
Cunningham, Growth of English Industry and Commerce, § 70 and § 93 ; 
Robinson, Readings in European History, I, 426-428; Cheyney, Readingst 
227-231 ; Henderson, Short History of Germany, 153-156. — (14) A Medieval 
Tournament. Gautier, Chivalry, 456-469 ; Cornish, Chivalry, ch. v ; Cutts, 
Scenes and Characters, 41 2-418. : — (15) Falconry and the Chase. Encyclo- 
pedia Britannica, "Falconry"; Indewick^ Forests and Forest Courts. — 
(16) Dress. Lacroix, Manners, Customs, and Dress during the Middle Ages; 
Encyclopedia Britannica (nth ed.), VII, 237-239. 

General Reading. — The profusely illustrated works by Lacroix are the 
best single source for the life of the Middle Ages. Gautier's Chivalry (illus- 
trated) sketches the life of the nobles as depicted in medieval French literature. 
VioUet-le-Duc's Dictionnaire de V Architecture Franqaise ("Chateau," "Don- 
jon," etc.) gives the best account of the medieval castle; see also Oman, 
Art of War, Bk. VI, ch. vii, and an article in The History Teacher's Magazine 
for November, 1 9 1 2 . For the peasants and medieval agriculture see works by 
Seebohm, Ashley, and Vinogradofif, together with Seignobos, The Feudal 
Regime. Luchaire's Manuel des Institutions Franqaises is the best account 
for France. Giry and Reville's Emancipation of the Medieval Towns 
(translated from Lavisse and Rambaud, Histoire Genirale) , is the best brief 
account in English of the medieval towns. Additional references of value 
are the Encyclopedia Britannica (nth ed.), VI, 784-79Q; and the Annual 
Report of the American Historical Association, 1898, 415-425. 



CHAPTER X 

THE CULTURE OF THE MHDDLE AGES 

A. Universities and Learning 

Except for the "Dark Age" comprised in the period of the 
. Germanic invasions, the Middle Ages were far from being a time 

204. Intel- of intellectual and artistic stagnation. From the tenth 
o^ the ^ century to the close of the medieval period there was an 
Middle Ages active and vigorous intellectual life, which manifested 

itself in many ways. It may be seen in the schools and universi- 
ties of the period, in the highly developed scholastic philosophy 
with which the universities were largely concerned, and in the 
study of the civil and canon law. The methods of thought 
and the subject matter of this intellectual life were different in 
many ways from those of to-day, but the reality and activity 
of it cannot be questioned. 

The universities of to-day, which throughout the world are 
the chief agencies in promoting higher education and advancing 

205. Mo- knowledge, are largely an inheritance from the Middle 
cathe^dral Ages. They first arose as an outgrowth of the earlier 
schools monastic and cathedral schools, maintained for the educa- 
tion of the clergy. In these schools were taught the " seven 
liberal arts" bequeathed to the Middle Ages by dying Greece 
and Rome. The liberal arts included Latin grammar, rhetoric, 
and dialectics (the art of formal reasoning), which formed the 
triv'ium; and the four sciences of arithmetic, geometry, astron- 
omy, and music, constituting the quadriv'ium. The sum of the 
instruction given in any one of these subjects was very small, 
and it was based almost entirely on scanty textbooks made in 
the sixth century. "In arithmetic the students were taught to 



UNIVERSITIES AND LEARNING 189 

keep simple accounts ; in music, what was necessary for the 
church services ; in geometry, a few problems ; in as- -^^^^.q 
tronomy, enough to calculate the date of Easter." The Middle 
method of instruction was for the teacher to dictate dry ^"' ^ 
summaries in Latin, which his students copied word for word. 
There was no inquiry or investigation, and little criticism. In 
spite of Charlemagne's efforts to improve education, little 
advance was made until the eleventh century. With the 
settling down of Europe after the period of the invasions there 
then came a dawn of better things. From the Arabian schools 
of Spain and Alexandria, and from the Greek schools of Constan- 
tinople, new influences made themselves felt. Here and there 
teachers began to give instruction in new subjects, — in philoso- 
phy, theology, medicine, and law. There followed what has 
sometimes been called the "twelfth-century Renaissance." 
It manifested itself especially in the rise of the universities, and 
in the formation of the scholastic philosophy. 

A teacher whose work contributed very largely to these 
two developments was Peter Ab'elard. He was born of a noble 
family in Brittany, shortly before the First Crusade ; he ^oe. Peter 
died in 1 142, just before the Second Crusade. Abelardearly Abelard 
showed a preference for learning over the life of a knight, 
and attended the lectures given by a master of the cathedral 
school of Paris. He soon surpassed his teacher in eloquence and 
reasoning, and was acknowledged by him to be his superior. 
At the early age of twenty-two, Abelard himself began to give 
lectures, and was soon renowned as the foremost scholar of his 
time. Students flocked in thousands to his lectures at Paris, 
and his writings were read by all learned men. But his success 
brought him enemies ; his life was saddened by a romantic love 
affair which had a most unhappy ending; and his teachings 
encountered bitter opposition. 

The earlier scholars of the tenth and eleventh centuries were 
ready to accept as true almost everything which was written. 
Abelard departed from this practice and insisted upon question- 
ing the correctness of the information handed down by earlier 



igo THE CULTURE OF THE MIDDLE AGES 

writers. In a famous work called Sic et Non (Yes and No) he 
showed that the early church fathers often gave contradictory 
reports of historical facts and of theological teachings. The whole 
tendency of his life and work was to teach that nothing was to 
be accepted as true which could not be proved to be so. He 
showed a spirit of freedom of thought which after ages were 
long in obtaining. This at last brought about his own downfall. 
Saint Bernard, the great abbot of the monastery of Clair vaux 
(cl4r-vo') , bitterly opposed Abelard. " He stood for the principle 
of authority ; to the doubts of reason, which seeks truth, he op- 
posed faith, which solves all difficulties in the name of authority." 
In the end Bernard triumphed; and Abelard was condemned, for 
heresy by a church council. He retired broken in health to 
the monastery of Cluny, where he died soon afterwards. 

As a result of the fame of Abelard's teaching, Paris became the 
chief center of learning in Europe. But the masters and students 
207. Rise of who flocked thither were strangers in the city, and were 
versity of often subjected to mistreatment and extortion. It became 
Paris necessary for them to organize in defense of their rights, 

and the model which they naturally chose was that of the guilds. 
The masters (or university professors) corresponded to the master 
workmen of the guilds ; the bachelors of arts, who were licensed 
to teach the elementary subjects, may be compared to the 
journeymen workmen ; the students took the place of the appren- 
tices. The organization of the university was at first purely 
voluntary, without authorization from either church or state. 
Quarrels were frequent between the students and the townsmen, 
often on frivolous grounds, and at times resulted in bloodshed. 
In 1200, in such a quarrel, the townspeople supported by 
the city officers killed five of the students. The masters 
supported the students, and threatened to suspend their lectures 
and to remove from Paris. To appease them. King Philip 
Augustus ordered that the university should thenceforth be a 
corporation, and that its students, in criminal cases, should 
be tried only by the university itself, and not by the city officers. 
This may be taken as the date of the legal recognition of the Uni- 



UNIVERSITIES AND LEARNING 



191 



versity of Paris. By subsequent grants from Pope and king 
alike it gained larger and larger privileges. 

At various points in western Europe, in the twelfth and 
thirteenth centuries, other universities arose. Usually they 
grew in ways similar to those which produced the univer- 208. Other 
sity at Paris. As a rule they began first by an informal universities 
grouping together of masters and students. Conflicts between 
townsmen and students are everywhere met with. Then, to 




Salamanca Alcali 
1243 • 1499 



Chief Universities of the Middle Ages 



define and regulate the rights of students and masters, charters 
were obtained from the king or Pope giving to the university a 
legal organization. At a later date enlightened rulers founded 
universities outright, just as they founded new towns. The 
accompanying map shows the spread of the movement and the 
cliief places at which universities sprang up. 
The University of Paris was the most renowned school for 



192 



THE CULTURE OF THE MIDDLE AGES 



209. Life of 
the univer- 
sities 



philosophy and theology. The University of Bologna be- 
came the chief center for the study of law. The Univer- 
sity of Salerno, in the kingdom of Naples and Sicilyj was 
renowned as the chief center of instruction in medicine. This 
university was in existence as early as the ninth century, and 
hence ranks as the oldest university in Europe. Its rise at so 
early a date is to be ascribed to the persistence of Greek in- 
fluence in southern Italy. In all the universities the "arts" 
course, based on the ancient trivium and quadrivium, was re- 
quired before students could take up the higher subjects, and 
the great majority of students never advanced beyond this 
elementary course. 

Owing to the scarcity of books, which at that time were all 
hand-written, the instructioji was almost entirely by means of 
lectures. The 
master had his 
chair, and lec- 
tured from a desk. 
The students sat or 
squatted on the straw 
or rushes with which 
the floor was strewn. 
The language used was 
naturally Latin, since 
that was the official 
language of the 
church. From about the sixth century, the knowledge of 
the Greek tongue had practically disappeared from western 
Europe. The universal use of Latin had one advantage, for it 
made it easy for students to pass from the universities of one 
country to those of another. The extent to which the students 
wandered about, seeking instruction now from one noted teacher 
and now from another, was remarkable. Having no books 
and few possessions, and living often by begging, they were free 
to come and go at will. 

The universities often possessed no buildings of their own. 




If^lrii 



A School of the Eleventh Century 
From a contemporary MS. 



UNIVERSITIES AND LEARNING 



193 



The masters gave instruction in their own hired quarters, and 
were paid by the fees which they collected from their hearers. 
There were hardly any university libraries ; and of course 
there were no laboratories for the study of natural science, for 
this subject was scarcely taught at all. Not merely the students, 
but the universities as a whole were less fixed in location than 
to-day. When disputes arose with civic authorities, it was easy 
for students and masters to leave in a body for some locality 
where they would be more favorably treated. A number of 
the universities in the later Middle Ages either arose in this 
way, or were strengthened by migrations of students and 
masters from an older university as the result of a local 
quarrel. In part this is the his- 
tory of the growth of the Univer- 
sity of Oxford (England). Masters 
and teachers were present at Oxford 
as early^ as the reign of Henry II, 
in the twelfth century ; but it was 
only after a great secession from 
the University of Paris (in 1229) 
that Oxford became an important 
university. 

The universities arose under the 
protection, and continued to be 
largely under the control, of the 
church. The masters were usually 
clergymen, and the students pos- 
sessed some of the privileges of the 

clerical class. Many of the students were mere boys of twelve, 
while others were gray-bearded men. The numbers in attend- 
ance at the most famous universities were often very large. 
Paris and Bologna probably had 6000 or 7000 students at the 
time of their greatest prosperity, and Oxford, 1500 to 3000. 
Eight to fourteen years were often spent by students in at- 
tendance at different universities. The students were usually 
a disorderly and turbulent class, as their frequent brawls would 




Seal of Oxford University 



194 



THE CULTURE OF THE MIDDLE AGES 



losophy 



indicate. Many of their songs, written in rhymed Latin (and 
hence totally unlike classical Latin verse), have come down to 
us. These often breathe a most unclerical spirit.^ 

The most characteristic subject of instruction in the medieval 
universities was scholastic philosophy, so called from the 
210. Scho- "schoolmen" who created it. Its method of investigation 
lastic phi- was by the formal reasoning, or logic, which the great Greek 
philosopher Aristotle had taught the world in the fourth 
century B.C. Until the middle of the twelfth century A.D., 
Aristotle's Logic was the only one of his works which the Middle 
Ages knew. By the year 1200, however, translations of most 
of the other works of Aristotle, in which are contained so much 
of the scientific and other knowledge of the ancients, had come 
into Christian Europe from Mohammedan Spain. These trans- 
lations had been made from the Greek into Arabic, and from 
Arabic into Latin, and were full of errors. Nevertheless they 
gave a real impetus to the learning of the time. 

After the defeat of Abelard by Saint Bernard, freedom of 
thinking was largely overthrown. The task of the schoolmen 
thenceforth was not to test the teachings of the church, to see 
whether they were true or not. Accepting these teachings 
through faith as true, they sought to show the grounds of their 
truth, and how they were true. In general we may say that the 
schoolmen showed marvelous vigor and subtlety of mind in 
their reasoning. The defect of their method was that they "at- 
tempted to extract knowledge from consciousness, by formal rea- 



^ A few stanzas from one of these songs, called the "Song of the Open Road," 
will illustrate the character of this literature and will show something of the student 
life. After each couplet occurs the refrain "Tara, tantara, teine!" The transla- 
tion is by John Addington Symonds, in his Httle volume entitled Wine, Women, and 
Song: Medieval Latin Students' Songs: — 



"We are wandering, 
Blithesome and squandering. 

" Eat to satiety, 
Drink to propriety. 

" Laugh till our sides we split, 
Rags on our hides we fit. 



'Jesting eternally, 
QuaflBng infernally. 

' When we're in neediness, 
Thieve we with greediness. 

' Brother, best friend, adieu ! 
Now, I must part from you.' 



UNIVERSITIES AND LEARNING 195 

soiling, instead of by investigation, observation, and research."^ 
Thomas Aqui'nas (died 1274) was the greatest of the medieval 
schoolmen, and his application of the Aristotelian logic to the 
problems of theology profoundly influenced all later teaching. 
One at least of the teachers of the thirteenth century rebelled 
against the method of the schoolmen, and sought to advance 
knowledge by scientific experiments. This was Roger 211. Roger 
Bacon,2 an English Franciscan friar (died 1294). He experimen- 
was educated at Oxford, and was able to read both Arabic tal science 
and Greek books in their original tongues. He believed that 
knowledge could be more certainly and rapidly advanced by 

1 A great English writer at the beginning of the seventeenth century made this 
criticism of scholasticism : "This kind of degenerate learning did chiefly reign among 
the schoolmen, who, — having sharp and strong wits, and abundance of leisure, and 
small variety of reading, but their wits being shut up in the cells of a few authors 
(chiefly Aristotle, their dictator), as their persons were shut up in the cells of monas- 
teries and colleges, and knowing little history, whether of nature or time, — did, out 
of no great quantity of matter and infinite agitation of wit, spin out unto us those 
laborious webs of learning which are extant in their books. For the wit and mind 
of man, if it work upon matter, which is the contemplation of the creatures of God, 
worketh according to the stuff and is limited thereby ; but if it work upon itself, as 
the spider worketh his web, then it is endless, and brings forth, indeed, cobwebs of 
learning, admirable f6r the fineness of thread and work, but of no substance or 
profit." — Sir Francis Bacon, Advancement of Learning, IV, 5. 

As illustration of the errors into which men of keen intellect fell through blind re- 
liance upon authority and failure to use their powers of observation and research, 
we have the teaching of a schoolman called Albert the Great that a diamond can be 
softened in the blood of a stag, especially if the animal has been fed on wine and 
parsley. Experiment would immediately have proved this statement to be false. 
Medieval science was full of such absurdities, which were transmitted from one writer 
to another without any effort at verification. 

But many questions which were discussed by the schoolmen seem absurd to us 
merely because their significance is not at once apparent. Thus the question raised 
by Albert the Great, "What happens if a mouse eats the consecrated host [in the 
Lord's Supper] ? " really involves the nature of the sacraments and their mode of 
operation. The following questions discussed by Thomas Aquinas involve the na- 
ture of space and the character of celestial bodies: "Whether an angel can be in 
more than one place at one and the same time; whether more angels than one can 
be in one and the same place at the same time ; whether angels have local motion ; 
and whether, if they have, they pass through intermediate space." — Thomas Aqui- 
nas, Summa Theologiae, I, quest. 52, 53. For further examples of scholastic method, 
see University of Pennsylvania, Translations and Reprints, III, No. 6. 

* Roger Bacon must not be confused with his countryman Sir Francis Bacon, 
who lived three centuries later. 



196 THE CULTURE OF THE MIDDLE AGES 

experimenting with real things, than by poring over bad trans- 
lations of Aristotle. As a result of his sounder methods, he 
learned so much about explosives that' many persons believe 
that he invented gunpowder. He was aware of the help which 
sailors could gain from the magnetic needle in steering their 
vessels. He knew the properties of burning glasses, and told 
how to construct telescopes. He believed in the sphericity of 
the earth, and discussed the possibility of reaching Asia by 
sailing westward into the Atlantic. The following passage 
from one of his writings shows that he foresaw some inventions 
of our own day: "Instruments for navigation can be made 
which will do away with the necessity of rowers, so that great 
vessels shall be borne about with only a single man to guide 
Robinson them. Carriages can be constructed to move without 
Readings in animals to draw them, and with incredible speed. Ma- 
HUor'^\ chines for flying can be made in which a man sits and turns 
461 (con- an ingenious device by which skillfully contrived wings 
densed) ^^^ made to strike the air in the manner of a flying bird. 

Arrangements can be devised for raising and lowering weights 
indefinitely great, and bridges can be constructed ingeniously 
so as to span rivers without any supports." Bacon vigorously 
attacked the scholars and learning of his day, and for fourteen 
years he was imprisoned by the head of the Franciscan order. 
He found few or no followers, and it is only in our time that 
his true greatness has been appreciated. 

In one practical field, learning made great advances in the 
twelfth and thirteenth centuries. This was in the field of law. 
212. Re- Until the twelfth century the written law of Rome, as 
orRoman^ codified by Justinian (§ 17), continued to be known, al- 
law though it was imperfectly understood. Now men arrived 

at a better understanding of it, and awoke to a realization that 
its principles were especially applicable to the new conditions 
produced by the rise of city life. At Bologna, about the year 
■ mo, lectures began to be given on Justinian's Code and Insti- 
tutes. Before the end of that century students flocked to Bo- 
logna in thousands to profit by this new and remunerative study. 



UNIVERSITIES AND LEARNING 197 

"Of all the centuries," says a writer on the history of law, 
"the twelfth is the most legal. In no age since the classical 
days of Roman law has so large a part of the sum total Pollock and 
of intellectual endeavor been devoted to jurisprudence, r^^^*. , ^ 

■' ^ English Law, 

From every corner of western Europe students flocked to I, m 
Italy. It was as if a new gospel had been revealed. Before 
the end of the century complaints were loud that theology was 
neglected, that the liberal arts were despised, that men would 
learn law and nothing but law." 

A powerful class of trained lawyers resulted from this study. 
One of the principles of Roman jurisprudence (§ 17) was that 
"the will of the prince has the force of law." The institutes,!, 
lawyers, therefore, became valuable allies of Emperors "> ^ 
and kings in their warfare against feudal and clerical opponents. 
The revived study of Roman law thus greatly aided in trans- 
forming the feudal sovereignties of the Middle Ages into the 
absolute monarchies of the seventeenth century. 

About the same time, the study of the church (or canon) law 
received a powerful impetus. In part this was due to such 
contests as that over investiture (ch. vi) ; in part it was 213. Growth 
due to the preparation of a great textbook on canon law, °* canon law 
which aided the study. The materials for this study were 
drawn from the following sources : — 

1. The teachings of the Scriptures, — that is, the Old and New 

Testaments. 

2. The decrees of church councils, from the Council of Nicaea on. 

3. The writings of the Fathers, or great writers of the church, from 

the first to about the seventh century. Their books were sup- 
posed to contain additional teachings of Christ and the Apostles, 
which were not recorded in the New Testament but were handed 
down by tradition until the time of these writers. 

4. The decretals of the Popes, including the False Decretals (§ 91). 

Canon law became as elaborate and comprehensive a system 
as the Roman (civil) law and as great a subject of study; and 
canon lawyers in their turn proved as zealous upholders of the 
papal claims as civil lawyers were of imperial prerogatives. 



198 THE CULTURE OF THE MIDDLE AGES 

B. Heresy and its Suppression 

Another sign of intellectual activity in the twelfth and thir- 
teenth centuries was the spread of certain heresies in the church. 

214. Growth Heresy, as we have seen, consisted in the maintaining of 
of heresy ^ny belief, in matters of faith and morals, that the church 

pronounced erroneous. It was a most serious offense in the 
Middle Ages. It was regarded as treason to the church, the 
institution established by God to save men's souls from hell. 
To teach heresy was to endanger the souls of others. Heretics 
who persisted in their views, therefore, were burned to death at 
the stake. Until long after the Middle Ages, religious tolera- 
tion — that is, permitting persons peaceably to hold views not 
sanctioned by the church — was practically unknown. It was 
by every one acknowledged that duty to God demanded that 
persistent heretics should be put to death. 

Nevertheless, in the twelfth century, there came a great in- 
crease in heresy. This was due in part to the increased intel- 
lectual activity of that time, and the difficulty of ascertaining 
just what the church had decided on different religious points. 
In part it was due to the influence of the crusades, which by 
bringing men of the West into contact with men of other re- 
ligions had' led to the adoption of some new religious ideas. In 
part also it was the result of a reaction against the growing lux- 
ury, worldliness, and corruption in the church. It manifested 
itself especially under two forms, both of which, although met 
with elsewhere, were particularly widespread in southern 
France. 

The first of these heresies was that held by the Walden'ses. 
This sect was founded by a rich merchant, Peter Waldo of Lyons, 

215. The who about 11 70 sold his goods and gave the proceeds to the 
Waldenses poor, that he might devote himself to the work of teach- 
ing and preaching. His followers were called "the poor men of 
Lyons." They advocated a return to the simple worship of the 
Apostles' time, and caused the Bible to be translated into the 
language of the people. In spite of many attempts to suppress 



HERESY AND ITS SUPPRESSION 199 

them they maintained themselves in the mountain valleys of 
Savoy' until they were absorbed in the Protestant Reformation. 

The other heresy, that of the Albigenses (al-bi-jen'sez), was 
of a more far-reaching character. They believed in two coequal 
Gods, — one good, the other evil. They declared the 216. Albi- 
material universe to be the creation of the evil deity, c^g^^^g 
and rejected the existing order in church and state. The (1209-1229) 
" perfect " members of the sect rejected marriage, and were 
frankly opposed to the whole social organization. Their chief 
center was in the neighborhood of Toulouse (in southern 
France), where the count protected the heretics. 

After a papal legate had been murdered, Pope Innocent III 
issued a call for an armed crusade against the Albigenses. 
King Philip Augustus pleaded his preoccupation with "two 
great and terrible lions," — the kings of England and 
Germany, — and refused to take part in it. A host of 
lords from northern France, however, gathered for the crusade. 
The war was waged with frightful cruelty. Twice the count 
of Toulouse made abject submission, and twice he again took 
up arms. In 1229, he finally submitted, and abandoned the 
cause of the heretics. 

The increase of the territory of the French crown through this 
crusade will be discussed in chapter xii. Here we have only 
to deal with its results for civilization and for the church, ^n Re- 
Prior to this crusade southern France was so different from suits of the 
northern France in language, customs, and culture, as ""^^ ® 
almost to form a separate nation. The south was far less feudal, 
and far more Roman, than was the north. Nowhere else in 
western Europe had culture and luxury made such progress. 
Commerce flourished there, cities prospered, manners were re- 
fined, and chivalry and a poetic literature in the language of the 
people. grew hand in hand. The success of the Albigensian 
Crusade meant the crushing out, to a large extent, of this en- 
lightened, tolerant, and easy-going culture of southern France. 

In rooting out the remnants of heresy among the people two 
new agencies in the church were active, — the mendicant friars 



200 THE CULTURE OF THE MIDDLE AGES 

and the Inquisition. The founding and activity of the mendi- 
cant friars — the Franciscans and the Dominicans — have al- 
218 Th ready been described in the chapter on the medieval 
mendicant church (ch. v). Here we need only note that the efforts 
fnars ^£ ^-^q friars to reclaim the heretics met with considerable 

success ; and that by their labors among the poor and wretched 
in the cities, and by their devotion to the papacy, they became 
an important part of the church organization. 

More important in rooting out heresy was the relentless work 
of the Inquisition, a court established for this very purpose. 
210. The '^^^ older tribunals for dealing with heresy were the bishops' 
Inquisition courts ; but these were limited to their own dioceses, and 
were hampered by preoccupation with other business. The 
court of the Inquisition, to which the suppression of heresy was 
now confided, was not limited to a single diocese; it was also 
unhampered by other cares, and its heads were removable by the 
Pope alone. At an early day its work was put largely in charge 
of the Dominicans. The procedure of the Inquisition was of 
a kind to tempt those blinded by passion and self-seeking to 
bring accusations on slight pretexts. Names of accusers and of 
witnesses were concealed, and torture (adopted from the secular 
courts) was freely used to elicit confessions. So close was the 
connection between its branches, and so complete its records, 
that neither time nor flight could insure immunity. The Iji- 
quisition stamped out the last embers of the Albigensian heresy, 
but it left a legacy of tyranny and oppression from which the 
world was long in escaping. 

C. Literature and Art 

The culture of the Middle Ages manifested itself not only in 

the foregoing activities, but also in the fields of literature and 

220. Ver- ^^^- ^^ ^^^ ^^^^ ®^ these the chief feature is the begin- 

nacular ning of a development of vernacular literatures, — that 

is, of writings in the language of the people. The lays of 

the troubadours hold an important place in this development. 



LITERATURE AND ART 20I 

The troubadour songs were peculiar to southern France, and 
were written in the Provencal' or south French tongue. Their 
authors were knights, noble lords, or princes. Their themes were 
chivalrous love and the devotion of the knight to his lady, 
rather than battles and feats of arms. In this respect the 
troubadour lays resemble the songs of the Minnesingers of con- 
temporaneous Germany. In northern France, on the other 
hand, the trouveres (troo-var') sang by preference of deeds of 
arms and battle, and celebrated the adventures of Charlemagne 
and Roland, or of King Arthur and the knights of the Round 
Table. Prose romances, like the delightful tale of Aucassin and 
Nicolette (o-ka-saN'; ne-ko-let'), were included in the latter liter- 
ature. The fabliaux (fa-ble-o': French fables) constituted a 
middle-class literature corresponding to the knightly literature 
described above. These /a^/iawx were satires — sometimes moral 
but more often irreverent — directed against nobles, immoral 
priests, and deceived husbands. In Germany, in addition to 
the knightly lays of the Minnesingers, we have the great 
Nibelungenlied (ne'be-loong-en-let) , an epic poem dealing with 
legends connected with the early history of the Burgundians. 
In almost every land of western Europe, in the twelfth and 
thirteenth centuries, intellectual activity manifested itself in the 
production of poems or prose works in the language of the people. 
More important than medieval literature was medieval art. 
The pictorial art of the Middle Ages is of less importance than 
that of the Renaissance, but nevertheless it is noteworthy. 221. Me- 
lts most characteristic form is seen in the marvelously ing 
delicate and richly colored initials and miniature pictures 
with which the monks "illuminated" their manuscript books. 
An example of such an initial, containing a miniature picture, 
is shown (without the colors) on page 81. Besides such illu- 
minations, medieval painting also produced many altar pictures, 
— of Christ, of the Madonna (or Virgin Mary), and of the 
saints. But the figures in these are usually represented in stiff 
and conventional attitudes, and the artists show little knowledge 
of the anatomy of ihe hunian body, or of the laws of perspective. 



202 



THE CULTURE OF THE MIDDLE AGES 



In architecture the Middle Ages created works of art which 
may well challenge comparison with the best which the world 
J has ever produced. In view of the great part that re- 
medieval ligion played in medieval life it is not surprising to find 
that the greatest architectural works were the churches. 
The earliest Christian churches were modeled on the Roman 
basilicas, or courts of justice, which were oblong buildings, with 



architecture 




^^^ 



Section of Old St. Peter's 
A typical Christian Basilica. Tom down in the sixteenth century 



the interior divided longitudinally by parallel rows of pillars 
into two "aisles" and a central "nave." Out of these early 
churches arose what is called the Romanesque type of architec- 
ture. This was characterized by the use of the round arch, and 
a general massiveness of effect. Stone soon superseded brick 
as building material, and, to decrease the danger of fire, arched 
stone vaulting replaced the timbered roofs. The cathedral of 
Pisa (p. 290) is a good example of this Romanesque style of 
building. The ground plan of almost all medieval cathedrals 
was the Latin cross. The two arms of the cross formed the 
"transepts." The "choir" of the cathedrali corresponded to 



LITERATURE AND ART 



203 



the short upright part, and the "nave" and "aisles" to the 
lower main part of the cross. 

The final and most splendid form assumed by medieval archi- 
tecture was the so-called Go//?ic style. This originated in north- 
ern France, 223. Prin- 

about the middle f^^l^.°^ 

Gothic con- 

of the twelfth stniction 
century. Its essential 
feature consists, not in 
its ornamentation, as 
is sometimes thought, 
but in its constructive 
principle. It repre- 
sents an absolutely 
new engineering idea 
applied to the con- 
struction of great stone 
buildings. Since the 
introduction of stone 
vaulted roofs, the main 
problem of construc- 
tion had been how to 
carry this enormous 
weight, and to sustain 
the lateral thrust, or 
tendency of an arch 
to fall apart. In the 
Romanesque style the 
problem was solved by 
making the walls so 
thick and solid that 
they would of themselves perform this task. But this con- 
struction left the interiors of the buildings dark and gloomy, 
for builders did not dare to weaken their walls by making 
many or large window openings. 

Gothic construction consisted in two innovations which solved 




Section and Detail of Cathedral at Amiens 
Showing details of Gothic construction 




Cathedral at Amiens (Front). Erected 1220-12S 
204 



LITERATURE AND ART 



205 




Grotesque on Tower of 
Notre Dame 



the foregoing problem, while permitting of as many and as large 
window openings as were desired. In the first place, the weight 
of the vaulted roof, instead of being dis- 
tributed equally along the length of the 
supporting wall, was gathered up on a 
number of arched ribs, which rested on 
piers of clustered columns . In the second 
place, these piers, instead of being left 
to resist the enormous lateral thrust of 
the ribs by their unassisted mass, were 
supported externally by a series of arched 
props, called "flying buttresses," which 
relieved them of all stress except the 
vertical pressure of the roof. (Study 
the picture on page 203.) 

The use of pointed instead of round 
arches was a mere detail growing out of this skeleton construc- 
tion, although it later came to be considered the distinguishing 
feature of the Gothic style. It belongs to the subject of 224. Gothic 
Gothic ornamentation, which should carefully be distin- omamenta- 
guished from its construction principle. The tall pointed 
windows are, nevertheless, an important feature of the Gothic 
form of architecture. The window openings were filled with pic- 
tures in stained glass, whose rich and varied 
colors added indescribably to the splendor 
of the interior. Everywhere, within and 
without, the sculptor's art scattered figures 
of men, animals, and plants, — all emblem- 
atical of the aspirations, the hopes, and the 
fears of medieval religion. Artists and 
sculptors vied with one another in repre- 
senting the history of humanity and of 
Christianity. Along with scenes from the 
Bible, figures of the saints, and allegorical 
representations of the virtues and vices, 
were seen fantastic grinning beasts and demons, the retinue 




Grotesque on Tower 
of Notre Dame 



2o6 



THE CULTURE OF THE MIDDLE AGES 



of the devil. Taken as a whole, such scenes "made up a kind 
of layman's Bible that appealed to the eye and was understood 
by all." 

The construction of such a great cathedral as that of Amiens 
(a-myaN'), or Notre Dame (no'tr' dam') of Paris, was usually 
protracted through a hundred years or more. The choir or 

nave would first be 
built and used for 
services. Then other 
parts were added, 
and so on, until we 
have the building in 
its present form. 
Many cathedrals are 
still incomplete, — 
that is, they lack the 
spires or some other 
features which were 
part of the original 
plan. Cologne cathe- 
dral (in Germany) 
was begun in 1248; 
but it was not until 
1880, after centuries 
of discontinuance of 
building operations, 
that it was finished. 
So well, however, were 
the great medieval 
cathedrals built that they still stand firm and secure after the 
lapse of centuries, thus attesting the soundness of their struc- 
tural principles. By the majesty and extent of their interiors, 
by the awe-inspiring lift of their clustered columns and vaulted 
roofs, and by the richness and infinite variety of their ornamen- 
tation, they constitute one of the most perfect expressions of 
human genius, and are the wonder and admiration of later 




Interior of the Cathedral at Amiens 



GENERAL CHARACTER OF THE MIDDLE AGES 207 

times. They are a fit memorial to the faith and spiritual 
aspiration, and to the civic pride and resources, of the energetic 
cities which produced them. 

D. General Character of the Middle Ages 

In concluding this chapter a few words may be said concerning 
the general character of the Middle Ages. 

In the first place, we should remember that in some of its 
geographical features Europe qf the Middle Ages differed greatly 
from the Europe of to-day. In many regions there 225. Geo- 
was nothing but forest, swamp, and moor, where to-day are ^^t^u *^^ d 
smiling fields and populous cities. The population on population 
the whole was much less than now. England, which in 191 1 
had over 36,000,000 inhabitants, had in 1086 only about 2,150,- 
000. The great growth of population in modern times, how- 
ever, has been chiefly in towns and manufacturing districts, and 
not in the open country. In many places the rural districts 
were probably as thickly settled in the Middle Ages as to-day. 
Local overpopulation, indeed, was one cause of frequent famines. 
Then weeds and the bark of trees were gnawed for food, and 
depraved beings sometimes ate human flesh. There were no 
great accumulations of wealth in the Middle Ages. Heavy 
goods could be transported only short distances by land, on 
account of the miserable roads; and when crops failed, the 
surplus of distant provinces could not be brought in to relieve 
distress. 

The standard of comfort, on the whole, — even after the in- 
troduction of some luxuries from the East, — was surprisingly 
low. Even among the higher classes the manner of living 226. Stand- 
was filthy and unsanitary. Floors were covered with ard of living 
rushes, among which bones from the table and other refuse were 
dropped. From time to time new layers of rushes were spread 
upon the old, and only after long intervals was the decaying mass 
cleaned out. The death rate, especially among young chil- 
dren, was naturally very high. In spite of the glamour of 



208 THE CULTURE OF THE MIDDLE AGES 

chivalry and romance, the Middle Ages, on their material side, 
were a dreary time in which to live. 

It must also be confessed — in spite of all that has been said 
in this chapter — that the Middle Ages were a time of great 
227 Imo- ignorance and superstition. Comets were regarded as 
ranee and signs of coming disasters. When one of these appeared 
superstition u refulgent, with a hairy crown," it foretold the death of a 
Hoveden ^^§j while one with "long locks of hair [i.e. a tail], which 
Chronicle, as it scintillates it spreads abroad," foretold the ruin of a 
year II s nation. "The invisible world," says a modern writer, 
"with its mysterious attraction and horrible fascination was 
ever present and real to every one. Demons were always 
Lea, Inqui- around [the medieval man], to smite him with sickness, 
^M'ddl A ^ ^° ^^^^ ^^ pitiful little cornfield [i.e. wheat field], or vine- 
I, 60 yard, or to lure his soul to perdition ; while angels and 

saints were similarly ready to help him, to listen to his invo- 
cations, and to intercede for him at the throne of mercy, which 
he dared not address directly." 

It was an age of starthng contrasts. The sordidness of its 

daily life might be relieved with splendid exhibitions of lofty 

228. Con- enthusiasm, or be darkened with hideous deeds of brutal- 

Mid^eA^es ^^^- ^^ ^^^ °^^ hand, it was "the age of chivalry, of 

Stubbs ideal heroism, of picturesque castles and glorious churches 

Constitutional and pageants, camps and tournaments, lovely charity 

England 111 ^^^ gallant Self -Sacrifices." On the other hand, it was 

634 clouded with dark shadows of "dynastic faction, bloody 

conquest, grievous misgovernance, local tyrannies, plagues and 

famines unhelped and imaverted, hollowness of pomp, disease, 

and desolation." 

IMPORTANT DATES 

mo. Study of Roman law revived at Bologna. 

1 142. Death of Abelard. 

1200. Legal recognition given University of Paris. 

1209. Crusade against Albigenses begun. 

1220. Cathedral of Chartres begun. 

1229. University of Oxford becomes important. 



TOPICS AND REFERENCES 209 



TOPICS AND REFERENCES 



Suggestive Topics. — (i) Compare the schools of the Middle Ages with 
modern schools. (2) In what respects is the high school graduate of to-day- 
more advanced in knowledge than the university graduate of the Middle 
Ages ? (3) Of what educational value was the study of scholastic philos- 
ophy? (4) Why did natural science make so little progress in the Middle 
Ages? (5) What were some of the effects of the study of Roman law and 
the Canon law? (6) What connection was there between the rise of the 
universities and the spread of heresy in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries ? 

(7) Why was the crusade directed more against the Albigenses than against 
the Waldenses? (8) What were some of the results of the founding of 
the Inquisition? (9) How did the "vernacular" literatures differ from 
the literature of the earlier Middle Ages ? (10) Are there any buildings in 
your town which show traces of Greek or Roman influence in their archi- 
tecture? (11) Are there any which show Gothic influence either in their 
structure or ornamentation ? 

Search Topics. — (i) Medieval Student Life. Ogg, Source Book, 
351-359; Munro and Sellery, Medieval Civilization, 348-357; American 
Historical Review, III, 203-229; X, 16-27. — (2) Medieval "Latin 
Quarter" in Paris. McCabe, Abelard, 47-52. — (3) Peter Abelard. 
McCabe, Abelard, chs. ii, iv, vii; Rashdall, Universities of Europe in the 
Middle Ages, I, 48-63; Robinson, Readings in European History, I, 446- 
455. — (4) Medieval Ideas OF Science. Robinson, Readings in European 
History, I, 438-446, 455-461 ; Munro and Sellery, Medieval Civilization, 
458-473. — (5) Troubles in the University of Paris in 1229. Duncalf 
and Krey, Parallel Source Problems in Medieval History, 137-174. — 
(6) Roger Bacon. Robinson, Readings in European History, 460-461; 
Encyclopedia Britannica (iithed.), "Bacon, Roger"; Taylor, The Medieval 
Mind, II, 484-508. — (7) Rise of Canon Law. Emerton, Medieval Europe, 
582-592; Rashdall, Universities of Europe in the Middle Ages, 128-143. — 

(8) Revived Study of Roman Law. Adams, Civilization during the 
Middle Ages, 31-35, 300; Emerton, Medieval Europe, 288-290; Pollock 
and Maitland, History of English Law, I, 21-24. — (9) The Waldenses. 
Lea, Inquisition of the Middle Ages, I, 76-88; Walker, Reformation, 
47-49; Robinson, Readings in European History, I, 380-381. — (10) The 
Albigenses. Lea, Inquisition, ch. iv; Munro and Sellery, Medieval 
Civilization, 432-457; Robinson, Readings in European History, 381-383. — 

(11) Troubadours and Minstrels. Rowbotham, Troubadours and 
Courts of Love, chs. vii, x, xi; Smith, Troubadours at Home, II, ch. xxxi; 
Jusserand,' English Wayfaring Life in the Middle Ages, 188-218. — - 

(12) The Nibelungenlied. Carlyle, Miscellaneous Writings ("The 
Nibelimgenlied") ; Forestier, Echoes from Mist-Land, pp. ix-xvi, 1-14, 



2io THE CULTURE OF THE MIDDLE AGES 

40-43, 76-84. — (13) The Building of a Gothic Church. — Harper's 
Magazine, LXXIX, 766-776, 944-955. — (14) A Descriptive Account 
OF SOME Gothic Cathedral (Amiens, Notre Dame of Paris, Chartres, 
etc. Illustrate with prints or photographs) . See histories of art and guide 
books. 

General Reading. — McCabe's Abelard is an excellent book. Rashdall's 
Universities of Europe in the Middle Ages (3 vols.) is the standard work on 
its subject. Jessopp's volume of essays entitled The Coming of the Friars 
deals with the mendicant orders in England and other subjects. Saints- 
bury's The Flourishing of Romance gives a scholarly and readable account 
of medieval literature. In this connection the charming twelfth- century 
love story entitled Aucassin and Nicolette should be read ; it may be obtained 
cheaply in translation from Mosher (Portland, Me.), or in the Everyman's 
Library. Liibke's Outlines of the History of Art (2 vols.) is one of the best 
accoxmts of medieval art in aU its phases. The most important work on 
Gothic architecture is Moore's Development and Character of Gothic Archi- 
tecture. 



CHAPTER XI 
ENGLAND IN THE MIDDLE AGES 

A. The Norman and Plantagenet Kings 

Four separate peoples contributed to make up England's 
population as we find it in the later Middle Ages, (i) The Celts 
inhabited Britain at the time of its conquest by Rome, 229. Racial 
and were left in possession when the Romans withdrew. EngUsh 
(2) In the fifth and sixth centuries the English (Angles history 
and Saxons) were added to the Celtic inhabitants of the island, 
and very generally displaced the Celts in the southern and east- 
ern parts. Thus the blood, speech, and institutions of England 
(though not of Wales and Scotland) became mainly Teutonic. 
There was some admixture of Celts among the English, however, 
which was not without importance (3) In the ninth and tenth 
centuries came a large influx of Danes (Northmen). They were 
near kindred of the Angles and Saxons, and were easily absorbed 
into the English nation. (4) The conquest of England by Wil- 
liam the Conqueror (§§ 76-77) added the last important racial 
element to the English nation, — that of the Norman French. 
The immediate changes produced by this event have already 
been described. We have now to trace the rise, under the 
Norman and Plantagenet (plan-taj'e-net) kings, of the limited 
constitutional monarchy which is the distinctive mark of Eng- 
lish political institutions. 

When William the Conqueror died, in 1087, primogeniture 
(the right of the eldest son to succeed his father) was not yet an 
established custom. Robert, William's oldest son, secured ^^^_ 

Normandy, but England passed to William Rufus, the man kings 
second son. On the death of this king, in iioo, England (^°87-ii54) 
passed to the third son of the Conqueror, Henry I (1100-1135), 



212 ENGLAND IN THE MIDDLE AGES 

who wrested Normandy from his brother Robert and reunited 
it with England. Henry's struggle with his brother forced him 
to conciliate his English subjects by granting them a charter 
of liberties.^ The title "the Lion of Justice" shows the respect 
with which this Norman ruler came to be regarded by the 
English people. 

The just government established by Henry I died with him. 
His nephew, Stephen of Blois, son of the crusader (§ 156), then 
secured the gevernment ; but his reign was weakened by the 
efforts of Henry's daughter, Matilda, to win the crown. Civil 
war and anarchy followed. The Norman nobles took advan- 
tage of the weakness of the government to build great castles, 
from which they set the king at defiance and oppressed the 
Anglo-Saxon wretched people. "When the castles were finished," 
Chronicle, says the chronicler, "they filled them with de^vils and 
year 1137 ^^.^ men. Then they took those whom they suspected to 
have any goods, by night and by day, seizing both men and 
women, and they put them in prison for their gold and silver, 
and tortured them with pains unspeakable, for never were any 
martyrs tormented as these were." 

The struggle for the crown ended with a treaty by which 
Stephen recognized Matilda's son, Henry of Anjou, as his 
231. Henry successor. In 1 154 Henry n, the first of the An'gevin or 
II (IIS4- Plantagenet ^ kings, ascended the English throne. The 
^^ ^' extent of his dominions made him the most powerful 

monarch in Europe. In right of his father, Henry was count 
of Anjou (in France) ; in right of his mother, he received Nor- 
mandy and England; by marriage with Eleanor, heiress of 
Aquitaine, he added that broad land to his dominions. His 

1 In conferring lands and privileges upon individuals, monasteries, or towns, it 
was customary for kings to make their grants in documents called charters (§ i97). 
This custom was now expanded to cover grants of rights and liberties to whole 
classes and even to the nation. Such charters really resemble constitutions more 
than they do the earlier feudal grants from which they arose. 

^ Henry's father, Geoffrey of Anjou, was in the habit of wearing a sprig of 
the "broom" plant (planta genesta) in his cap; hence arose the family name, 
Plantagenet. 




THE NORMAN AND PLANTAGENET KINGS 213 

territories in France were greater than those of the French king 
himself, and almost constant warfare with his suzerain was the 
result. Nevertheless, in spite of those wars Henry found time 
thoroughly to reform and reorganize his English kingdom. 

In personal appearance Henry was a striking figure. He had 
broad shoulders, a thick neck, a large round head, and a ruddy 
complexion. He had great 
physical strength, and was ac- 
customed to long and hard rid- 
ing. In a single day he could 
make a journey for which others 
took twice or thrice as long. 
Henry surprised both friends 
and enemies by his rapid move- 
ments, and was tireless in the 
transaction of business. In ad- 
dition, he had an orderly mind 

J i J- 1 Ml 1 Seal of Henry II (before 1154) 

and a masterful will; he was 

,1 11. 1 1 1 , "Henry, by the grace of God Duke of 

thus able to make a plan, and to ^^e Normans, Duke of Aquitaine, and 

follow it out against almost all Count of Anjou " 
obstacles. He was a hard, stern man, with the fierce Angevin 
temper, and was little loved ; but the value of his work makes 
him one of the greatest of England's kings. 

On coming to the throne, Henry II began at once to restore 
order. He destroyed the lawless castles, and dismissed the 
mercenary soldiers who had been called in from the Con- 232. Finan- 
tinent during the civil war. He then set on foot impor- military 
tant financial, military, and judicial reforms. He def- reforms 
initely organized the Exchequer, or financial department of 
the government, which had control of the collection and expen- 
diture of the revenues of the state. He improved the military 
system in two ways. The old English militia was revived by a 
law called the Assize of Arms, which required every man to 
provide himself with weapons according to his means. The 
highest class of common freemen were each to have a helmet, 
a coat of mail, a shield, and a lance; and all subjects had to 



214 ENGLAND IN THE MIDDLE AGES 

be ready to serve in the army when needed. The second reform 
consisted in the practice of excusing feudal tenants from military 
service on payment of a sum called "scutage," or shield money. 
The funds thus obtained were used to hire professional troops, 
who were better trained and more reliable soldiers than the 
feudal levies. These improvements gave the king a stronger 
army, and made him more independent of the feudal barons. 

Henry also wished to estabhsh one law for all parts of England, 
and for all classes of people. There were many courts, some 
233. Henry's ^^^^ by the lords on their manors, and some held by the 
judicial sheriffs in the shires or counties. There was little con- 

nection among them, and the same kind of offense might 
be punished more severely in one court than in another. To 
remedy this evil, Henry appointed learned men, called "itinerant 
justices," whose duty it was to travel about the country and 
preside over each shire court at certain intervals. This system 
of circuit judges helped to unify the law of the whole kingdom ; 
it also made the settlement of many important cases easier, 
speedier, and more certain. Henry also changed the methods 
by which trials were conducted. In the older modes of trial — 
by oaths, ordeal, or combat (§ 64) — the outcome depended largely 
upon superstition, accident, or force. In none of them was there 
any attempt to find out the facts of the case by hearing testi- 
mony and weighing evidence. It was one of the great merits of 
Henry II that he brought into general use a reasonable form of 
trial, — that of trial by jury. In such trials the decision was 
given in the naine of the community by those who had the best 
knowledge of the facts. This procedure was first applied 
to cases concerning land. Later (after 1215), when the church 
saw the folly and impiety of the ordeal, trial by jury was used 
in criminal cases also. Centuries passed, however, before jury 
trial reached the developed form of to-day. 

Another innovation of Henry II grew into the "grand jury." 
This is a body of sworn citizens who inquire into crimes and 
make "indictments," or accusations against the criminals, so 
that they may be brought to trial. It often happened before 



THE NORMAN AND PLANTAGENET KINGS 215 

this time that an offender was too powerful for a private indi- 
vidual to dare accuse him. The "jury of presentment," as 
the new body was called, remedied this defect by bringing the 
accusation against the suspected person in the name of the com- 
munity as a whole. Thus fewer criminals escaped punishment. 

The trial and presentment juries greatly improved the ad- 
ministration of justice, but their indirect influence was even more 
important. By participating in the administration of justice, 
Englishmen were trained in a knowledge of the law and in the 
exercise of the rights of self-government. Jurors acted — not 
merely in judicial matters, but also in administrative matters — 
as representatives of their communities ; and when once the 
principle of representation was firmly fixed in local government, 
it became easy to introduce it into central affairs. Thus the 
juries introduced by Henry II became, under his successors, 
the taproot of representation in Parliament. 

In his attempt to bring the clergy as well as the laity under 
the jurisdiction of the civil courts, Henry was less successful. 
This was largely because of his unfortunate quarrel with 234. Quar- 
Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury. In the ^ch^ish 
early part of Henry's reign, Becket had been his chan- Becket 
cellor and chief minister. Henry had lavished riches and favors 
upon him, and Becket had adopted a magnificent style of life, 
rivaling that of the king. What was more natural than that 
Henry, wishing to secure control over the church, should 
appoint his able and worldly minister to its highest office ? 

A remarkable change, however, came over Becket when he 
became archbishop. He gave up his luxurious life, resigned 
his chancellorship, and became the most jealous defender of 
the privileges of the church. Henry wished to have all church- 
men who were accused of crimes brought into the state courts 
and punished with the same penalties as other offenders. As it 
was, a churchman — and we must remember that the clergy 
included not only monks, priests, and bishops, but multitudes 
in minor orders as well — was tried in a church court by canon 
law. Often churchmen who had committed serious crimes 



2l6 ENGLAND IN THE MIDDLE AGES 

escaped with very light punishments. Becket opposed every 
effort of the king to lessen this independence of the church. 
Thus a quarrel arose which bore some resemblance to the struggle 
between empire and papacy which was then being waged on 
the Continent. 

After years of conflict, hasty words let fall by Henry led four 
of his knights to murder Archbishop Becket in his cathedral 
at Canterbury (1170). This deed shocked the whole of Chris- 
tendom. The people looked upon Becket as a martyr, the 
Pope declared him a saint, and for centuries pilgrims streamed 
to Canterbury to visit his tomb. Henry was compelled to 
make his peace with the injured church, by giving up his plans 
for bringing churchmen into the state courts. "Benefit of 
clergy" (the immunity of all churchmen from secular justice) 
thus continued to be enjoyed in England down to the time of 
the religious Reformation. 

Henry's son, Richard I, the Lion-Hearted, was a good warrior, 

but a bad ruler. Most of his reign was devoted to the Third 

23s. Rich- Crusade and to the defense of his continental posses- 

ard I sions. Only seven months of the ten years of his reign 

(II 9-1 199) ^gj.g passed in England. Administrative of&cers trained 

by Henry II, however, kept the country orderly and peaceful. 

After Richard's death, the Great Council chose as king his. 
brother John, in preference to Arthur, the son of an elder brother 
236. Mis- (Geoffrey). John had been an undutiful son and brother ; 
^f T hn^^"* he now proved the worst king that England ever had. He 
(1199-1216) was cruel, faithless, lazy, and reckless of everything save 
his own pleasure. Yet his very wickedness and tyranny, by 
spurring all classes to resistance, helped much to bring about polit- 
ical liberty, and to make such tyranny impossible for the future. 
John's misconduct in Aquitaine led his barons there to appeal 
to John's suzerain, Philip II of France ; and when John refused 
to appear for trial in Philip's court, his French fiefs were de- 
clared forfeited. Soon after this, John secured possession of 
his young nephew, Arthur, and basely put him to death. This 
made it easier for Philip Augustus to enforce the sentence of 



THE NORMAN AND PLANTAGENET KINGS 



217 



forfeiture. By the close of 1206 all the EngHsh possessions in 
France except Aquitaine were lost. 

John was next involved in a quarrel with Pope Innocent III 
over a disputed election to the archbishopric of Canterbury. 
For nearly five years England lay under an interdict, all ordi- 
nary church services being prohibited. To prevent his own 
deposition, John at last made his peace by surrendering his 
kingdom into the hands of the Pope's legate and receiving it 
back again as a papal fief, on condition of paying an annual 
tribute. Humiliating as this submission may seem to us, it 
caused little comment at the time. 




Battle between Knights in the Thirteenth Century 



John next hastened to France, with such forces as he could 
raise, to regain his lost possessions there. At Bouvines, in 
1 2 14, his ally. Otto IV of Germany, was overwhelmingly de- 
Jeated (§ 131), and John returned discredited to England. 
The loss of the English possessions in France was, on the 
whole, fortunate for England. It practically completed the 
process, which had long been going on, whereby the barons 
ceased to be Normans and were absorbed in the body of the 
English nation/ 

All classes liT England were now aroused by John's misgovern- 
ment. During his absence on the Continent a meeting had been 



2l8 



ENGLAND IN THE MIDDLE AGES 



held at which it was agreed to take up arms unless he granted 

a charter of liberties similar to that of Henry I. John sought 

The ^° evade this demand ; but the whole nation — nobles, 

Great Char- clergy, and townsmen — united in it. Finally in June, 

ter (1215) 1215, "in the meadow called Runnymede," on the river 

Thames, John put his seal to the Great Charter (Magna Carta). 




Portion of Magna Carta 

Since John's day the Great Charter has repeatedly been con- 
firmed, and now stands as part of the English constitution. Its 
principles are part of the law of every English-speaking nation, 
and hence have almost as much interest for us as for England 
itself. Recent writers, however, have shown that Magna Carta 
is more feudal and less national than is ordinarily supposed. 
The chief desire of the barons was to secure their own class 
interests, and later ages have read into the charter much wider 
meanings than were at the time intended.^ 

Among the provisions of the great Charter, the following 
is noteworthy : " No free man shall be taken, or imprisoned, or 
dispossessed, or outlawed, or banished, or in any way destroyed, 
nor will we go upon him, nor will we send upon him, except by 
the lawful judgment of his peers, and by the law of the land." 
In this passage the king admitted that he had no right to imprison 
or punish any man, except according to law, and not according 
to his own will. In another famous passage John promised that 

' For recent views of the Great Charter see McKechnie, Magna Carta; also Jenks 
"The Myth of Magna Carta," in the Independent Review, 1904, 260. 



THE NORMAN AND PLANT AGENET KINGS 219 

he would collect no unusual feudal dues unless they were granted 
to him by the consent of his barons in a Great Council assem- 
bled for that purpose. In this passage was laid the foundation of 
the principle that a government ought not to tax its subjects 
without their consent, and that "taxation without consent Pollock and 
is tyranny." It is because of such provisions as these Maitland, 
that the Great Charter is now so highly prized. "In brief, English Law, 
it means this, that the king is and shall be helow the law." !> ^73 
When John granted the Great Charter, he had no intention 
of abiding by it. Within three months he was again at open 
war with his barons. The latter then planned to 
accept the son of the French king as their sovereign. 
In 1 2 16, however, John died, leaving a nine-year- 
old son, Henry III, to succeed him. The Great 
Charter now received the first of many confirma- 
tions, and peace was rapidly restored in England. 

During the first sixteen years of Henry Ill's 
reign, officers trained in the methods of Henry II 
directed affairs, and good order and prosperity 238. 
followed. When Henry HI took the govern- ^^^^^ ^^ 
ment into his own hands, misgovernment was Henry III 
the result. Thereupon the barons again rebelled, 
this time under the leadership of a patriotic noble- 
man, Simon de Montfort. For a time the barons 
were completely successful, and the king himself became a 
captive in their hands. Then reaction set in. Simon de 
Montfort was defeated and slain in the battle of Evesham 
(evz'am ; 1 265) , and the barons' party went to pieces. The con- 
trol of the government for the rest of Henry's reign was in the 
hands of his son Edward. This prince was a strong and able 
ruler, and ended the misgovernment which had caused the revolt. 
Edward I became king in 1272. He was the first king since 
the Norman conquest of whom it can be said that he 239. Good 
was "every inch an Englishman." He sought to unite ]^^^°j.^i 
under one rule the whole of the British Isles. To ac- (1272-1307) 
complishthis he waged war against the Welsh, and in 1284 an- 




2 20 



ENGLAND IN THE MIDDLE AGES 



annexed their country to England. Soon after this he made his 
son and heir "Prince of Wales," a title which since then has 
regularly been given to the heir to the English throne. Edward 
also attempted the conquest of Scotland. The chief result of 
his aggressions there was to throw the Scots into alliance with 
France, and to postpone until the eighteenth century the con- 
stitutional union of the two British kingdoms. 

Edward's greatest title to fame rests on the improvements 

that he made in the English laws. The crusades were now 

240. Ed- coming to an end, and in Europe as a whole strong govern- 

ward s wor j^gj^^g -v^ere arising. Everywhere there was need that old 

giver laws should be revised and new ones made to suit the new 

time. The thirteenth century, therefore, was above all things 

the age of the lawyer and legislator. In this field Edward's 

work may well challenge 



comparison with that of 
Frederick II of Sicily 
(§ 133), and Louis IX and 
Philip IV of France (§§ 258- 
264). He revised and put 
in order the old laws, and 
he made many new ones. 
Only two of his new en- 
actments call for mention 
here. The first of these 
was the Statute of Mort- 
main {mortmain — "dead 
hand"), which forbade that 
any more land should be 
given or sold into the hands 
of the church, without the king's consent. This was to check 
the amassing of so much of the land of the kingdom — practi- 
cally one third — by the church, especially the monasteries. 
The second statute, called from its opening words Quia 
Empto'res, attacked feudalism by forbidding "subinfeudation" 
(§60). Thenceforth when a vassal sold or otherwise alienated 




Seal of Edward I 

'Edward, by the grace of God King of 
England, Lord of Ireland, and Duke of 
Aquitaine." 



THE RISE OF PARLIAMENT 221 

any part of his land the new tenant held it not of the seller but 
of the seller's lord. 

Edward II (1307-13 2 7) proved an unworthy successor to his 
great father, and after many disturbances was forced to abdicate 
in favor of his son. Edward III (13 2 7-13 77) showed ^^_ 

something of the energy and capacity of his grandfather, ward II and 
The beginning of the Hundred Years' War with France ^^"^^^^ "^ 
(ch. xiii) was the most notable event of his reign. Constitutional 
progress, however, was not arrested. Under Edward I Parlia- 
ment had assumed definite form; and under Edward III and 
his successors, in the course of the long war with France, it 
began to develop the powers which to-day make it the supreme 
governing body of England. 

B. The Rise or Parliament 

There never has been a period since England was united 
into a single kingdom when some sort of council or assembly 
has not been called, from time to time, to aid the king in 242. The 
governing his realm. In the days of the Angles and fn^^^jo^ 
Saxons this body was called the Wit'enagemot, or assem- Saxon times 
bly of wise men. It was made up of the bishops, abbots, king's 
thegns (his personal followers), and chief officers of the kingdom. 
It was this body which aided Alfred in making his laws, and 
which elected Harold — and after him William — to be king. 

After the Norman conquest, the king from time to time called 
about him all the lords who held land directly of him by feudal 
tenure. Except for the fact that the feudal lords were 243. The 
at first mainly Normans, this body did not differ very Great Coun- 
much from the Witenagemot ; for the great officers of the cil 
land were the king's vassals, and the bishops and abbots also 
held their lands by feudal tenure. It was this Great Council of 
the barons which settled who should have the crown when there 
was a dispute ; it was also this body which helped the kings to 
carry on the work of government. But the Great Council 
only aided and advised the king; it did not control him. 



Ill ENGLAND IN THE MIDDLE AGES 

What is it that marks the difference between these earher 
assembhes and the later one that we call Parliament ? First, 

244. How Parliament is a "representative" body, — - that is, it is 
fered from Composed in part of persons who do not sit in right of 
Parliament their offices or lands, but who are elected to represent 

the people. Second, it -is divided into two "houses," — a 
House of Lords, and a House of Commons. And third, it has 
more power than the older assemblies possessed. 

The addition of representatives to sit with the great churchmen 
and barons was the first step in transforming the Great Council 

245. Repre- into Parliament. The practice of choosing representatives 
in local ^° ^^^ '^"^ ^^® name of the community was first used in 
afifairs local government. In the Anglo-Saxon time, as we have 

seen (§ 78), each township sent four representatives to take 
part in the hundred and the shire meetings. When the Normans 
came, they began the practice of using committees of repre- 
sentatives, in the different districts of the country, for many 
purposes. Sometimes they ordered such committees to declare 
what the old English law was, in order to guide their judges in 
deciding cases. Sometimes such committees were used to make 
a list of all the property in their districts, with the value of it and 
the names of the owners. Henry II made use of such committees 
of sworn representatives, or " juries," to find out the facts in given 
cases at law, and to declare their decision or verdict. The im- 
portant thing to note is that the decision which each jury gave was 
regarded as the decision of its community. In other words, the 
jury "represented" the community for that purpose, and its 
voice was taken as the voice of its community. Thus, in many 
ways, the EngHsh people became used to the idea of having rep- 
resentatives chosen to help carry on the work of local govern- 
ment in the name of the people of the community. 

Why, we may now ask, were representatives added to the 
246 Renre- ^^^^at Council ? The reason is that a time came when the 
sentatives kings needed more money to carry on the work of govern- 
th G *°t ment; and that this additional money had to come, not 
Council only from the nobles, who already had seats in the Great 



THE RISE OF PARLIAMENT 223 

Council, but also from the wealthy townsmen and country- 
gentlemen. It seemed best, therefore, to ask the towns and 
the counties to send representatives to meet with the Great 
Council, and there give the consent of their communities to 
the new taxes. This would make it easier to collect the money, 
for then there would be less grumbling about it. It would also 
be in keeping with the spirit of that passage of the Great Charter 
in which the king promised not to collect money from his subjects 
without their consent. Of course it would have been possible 
for the king's officers to go about the country asking the consent 
of each community in turn, and indeed this was sometimes 
done. But on the whole it was felt that it would be quicker and 
more satisfactory to bring together at one place the represent- 
atives of all the communities and there secure their consent. 

The representatives who were thus called together were of two 
sorts. First, there were the "knights of the shire," who rep- 
resented the lesser nobles and country gentlemen ; and, 247. Knights 
second, there were the ''borough representatives," who of the shire 
came from the cities and towns (boroughs) and repre- 
sented the trading classes. The knights of the shire were the 
first to be added to the assembly. In 12 13, for the first time the 
king called them to meet with the Great Council, "to speak 
with us concerning the business of our kingdom." From time 
to time after that, "knights of the shire" were summoned to 
the assembly, until the practice became permanent. They 
were elected by the landholders, in the county assemblies, and 
every county sent two, no matter what its size. 

The addition of the town, or borough, representatives came 
in 1265, when Simon de Montfort was in power. To gain wide- 
spread support he summoned representatives from each 248. Bor- 
of the towns favorable to his cause to meet with the °efenta.^' 
barons and the knights of the shire in the Parliament of tives (1265) 
that year. This practice of summoning representatives of the 
boroughs, from time to time, was continued after the barons' 
revolt was put down. Finally, in 1295, King Edward I called 
a meeting which established it as a rule that in a Parliament 



224 ENGLAND IN THE MIDDLE AGES 

there ought to be representatives both of the counties and of the 
towns. This was called the " Model Parliament " because it be- 
came a model for succeeding ones. Each town which sent repre- 
■ sentatives at all, in those days, elected two. Gradually the place 
of meeting became fixed at Westminster, a suburb of London. 
At first the representatives of the counties and of the boroughs 
sat in the same body with the barons and great churchmen. 
240. Sepa- ^y ^^^ y^^^ i34°7 however. Parliament had separated into 
ration into two "houses." The upper house was the House of 
Lords ; it included the great barons, who bore the titles of 
duke, marquis, earl, viscount, and baron, and had an hereditary 
right to be summoned to the Parliament. It also included the 
archbishops and bishops, and the abbots or heads of monasteries, 
who belonged by virtue of their lands and offices. The lower 
house, made up of county and borough members, was called 
the House of Commons. In course of time it became the most 
important part of Parliament. This was because it especially 
was called upon to vote the taxes which the king needed for 
carrying on the government. For a time the towns and counties 
looked upon representation in Parliament as a burden. Gradu- 
ally their representatives began to hold back the voting of 
taxes until the king and his ministers promised to correct any 
grievances of which they complained. Then it was seen that 
the right of voting taxes was a great and valuable power, and the 
people no longer complained of being represented in Parliament. 
At first it was not certain whether the House of Commons 
would be admitted to a share in the lawmaking power, or 
250. The whether it would be allowed only to vote taxes. In his 

Commons summons to the Model Parliament, however, Edward I 

given equal ' ' 

powers laid down the principle that "what concerns all should 

be approved by all." Twenty-seven years later, the rule was 

definitely stated that all matters which concerned the kingdom 

and the people "shall be established in Parliament, by the 

King, and by the consent of the Lords and the Commons of the 

realm." From this time on, the powers of the Commons grew, 

until they are now much greater than those of the Lords, 



THE RISE OF PARLIAMENT 225 

But we must not think of these early Parliaments as having 
the great powers which Parliaments have to-day. The king 
was still much more powerful than the Parliament, ^51 Parlia- 
though since the granting of the Great Charter it was ment not 
recognized that the king was below the law and not above ^^* supreme 
it. In making new laws, and in laying new taxes, he needed the 
consent of Parliament ; but in carr5dng on the general business 
of the government — in making war and in concluding peace — 
he could act without Parliament. Often he consulted Parlia- 
ment about such matters, but he could act as he pleased. The • 
ministers who carried on the government were still the king's 
ministers, and responsible to him only. It was to be several 
centuries yet — and two civil wars were to be fought, and one king 
beheaded and two deposed — befor-e Parliament was recognized 
as the chief power in the government. 

Before the outbreak of the Hundred Years' War the frame- 
work of the legislative assembly in England was complete. The 
importance of this development is not due solely to the great 
part which that assembly has played in the government of 
Great Britain. In modern times the English Parliament became 
"the Mother of Parliaments" for other countries also. Indeed, 
it is not going too far to say that the greatest thing that England 
has done for the world was to give it this system of legislative 
assemblies (including our Congress and state legislatures), by 
which practically the whole world is now governed. 

IMPORTANT DATES 

1100-1135. Henry I, the "Lion of Justice." 

1 1 54-1 1 89. Henry II reforms the government and introduces jury trial. 

1 170. Thomas Becket murdered. 

1206. King John loses Normandy. 

1 2 13. Knights of the shire first summoned to Parliament. 

1215. The Great Charter granted. 

1265. Borough representatives added to Parliament ; Montfort slain. 

1284. Edward I completes the conquest of Wales. 

1295. The Model Parliament of Edward I. 

1327. Edward II denosed and Edward III becomes king. 

1340. Parliament separated into two houses. 



226 ENGLAND IN THE MIDDLE AGES 



TOPICS AND REFERENCES 

Suggestive Topics. — ^ (i) Was the Norman conquest a good or a bad thing 
for England? Why? (2) What feature of feudalism is illustrated by 
the anarchy under Stephen ? (3) Show on an outline map the lands ruled 
by Henry II. Show also those lost by John. (4) What advantages does 
trial by jury have over the 'older forms of trial ? (5) Was more right on 
the side of Henry II or of Becket in their quarrel? Give your reasons. 
(6) Why was Richard I a poor ruler? (7) How did the battle of Bouvines 
affect England? (8) Commit to memory the sentence from the Great 
Charter which is quoted in this chapter. (9) Did that charter grant 
any new rights to Englishmen ? (10) Why is it so important in English 
history? (11) Point out the importance of the work of Edward I as a law- 
giver. (12) Show how the representative system of government made 
self-government possible for larger districts than in ancient times. (13) Can 
you name any important countries to-day in which Parliaments do not exist ? 

Search Topics. — (i) Judicial Reforms of Henry II. Cheyney, 
Short History of England, 148-154; Montague, English Constitutional 
History, 47-50; Mrs. Green, Henry II, 116-126. — (2) Henry II and 
Thomas Becket. Green, Short History, 106-109; Cheyney, Readings, 
143-164; Mrs. Green, Henry II, ch. vii. — (3) The Loss of Normandy. 
Green, History of the English People, Bk. II, ch. iv. — ■ (4) John's Quarrel 
WITH THE Pope. Green, Short History, 122-12^; Green, Henry II ; Milman, 
Latin Christianity, Bk. IX, ch. v. — (5) Winning the Great Charter. 
Green, History of the English People, Bk. II, last half ch. ii; Ogg, Source 
Bookj 297-310; Robinson, Readings in European History, 231-238. — 
(6) Simon de Montfort. Green, Short History, 152-160; Encyclopedia 
Britannica (nth ed.), XVIII, 781-782; Hutton, Simon de Montfort and 
his Cause (sources). — (7) Character and Work of Edward I. Tout, 
Edward I, ch. iv. — (8) The Conquest of Wales. Tout, Edward I, 
ch. vi; Green, Short History, 161-169. — (9) Wars of Edward I with 
Scotland. Tout, Edward I, chs. x, xii; Green, Short History, 181- 
193. — (10) The Origin of Parliament. Ilbert, Parliament, 7-20; 
Boutmy, English Constitution, 55-69; Tout, Edward I, ch. viii; Green, 
Short History, 169-181. 

General Reading. — In addition to the general histories of England and 
the works referred to in connection with the search topics, see Miss Norgate's 
John Lackland, Taswell-Langmead's Constitutional History of England) 
and Skottowe's Short History of Parliament. Medley's Manual of English 
Constitutional History is an excellent book, topically arranged. Pollard's 
History of England (Home University Library) is a brilliant sketch in 247 
pages. The articles in the Dictionary of National Biography (2d ed., 22 
vols.) are of the highest value for the teacher and advanced student, 



CHAPTER XII 

THE GROWTH OF FRANCE (987-1337) 

A. Louis VI and Philip Augustus 

When Hugh Capet came to the throne of France, in 987 
(§41), feudal tendencies had overmastered the monarchy. 
What is now France was then only a bundle of feudal 252. Devel- 
fragments, steadily growing farther apart in language, theroy^ 
in law, and in political feeling. It was the work of the power 
Capetian kings to reunite these fragments, to form a strong 
monarchy, and to arouse in it a national enthusiasm. Three 
centuries passed before the task was approximately completed. 
The Capetian kings were assisted in the work by their possession 
of extensive estates in northern France, by the support of the 
church and the towns, and by the moral authority which 
attached to the ofl&ce of king. A chief means used to effect 
the transformation was by increasing the area of the royal 
domain, — that is, of those lands which were directly under the 
control of the crown; for the extension of the royal domain 
brought increased revenues and more numerous retainers. 

Under the first four Capetian kings ^ little was accom- 
plished; but beginning with Louis VI, in 1108, rapid progress 

1 The kings of the direct Capetian line, with the dates of their reigns, were as 
follows: — 



Hugh Capet 987-gg6 

Robert 996-1031 

Henry I 1031-1060 

Philip I 1060-1108 

Louis VI 1108-1137 

Louis VII 1137-1180 

Philip II, Augustus . . . 11 80-1 2 23 



Louis VIII 1223-1226 

Louis IX 1226-1270 

Phihp III 1270-1285 

Philip IV 1285-1314 

Louis X 1314-1316 

Philip V 1316-1322 

Charles IV 1322-1328 



227 



2 28 THE GROWTH OF FRANCE 

was made. By purchase, marriage, inheritance, and forfeiture, 
fief after fief was acquired, until at last the royal domain 
included almost the whole of France. To keep what was 
gained, the principle of hereditary succession to the crown was 
established, as against that of election (§ 41). Until hereditary 
succession was fully recognized, the son was usually elected in 
the father's lifetime as his associate and successor. The fortu- 
nate fact that, unlike the German imperial houses, the Capetians 
for eleven generations (until 13 16) never lacked a son to receive 
the scepter from the father, and that only once was a long 
regency necessary, greatly aided them in transforming the 
monarchy from an elective to an hereditary basis. 

Louis VI (1108-1137) is styled "the Fat," but he was the 
embodiment of \yarlike energy. His great task was to reduce to 

253, Royal order the petty nobles of the royal domain, who were 
duced^o"^' little better than brigands. The conditions which pre- 
order vailed in France at this time were similar to those which 

existed in England under Stephen (§ 230) . Every lord of a castle 
robbed at will, and some tortured with fiendish cruelty those 
who fell into their hands. Twenty years of hard fighting was 
necessary before the last of these brigands was crushed. In 
order that such evils might not again occur, every fortress taken 
was destroyed or intrusted to faithful persons. 

The greater task of breaking the English power in France was 
reserved for Louis's grandson, Philip II (i 180-12 23). You will 

254. Philip recall that Henry II, the first Angevin king of England, 
Augustus jjgi(j Y^g^ possessions in France (map for 1180, p. 240). 
Angevin These possessions included more than half of the territory 
power jn which Philip was recognized as king, and were many 

times greater than the royal domain itself. It therefore became 
the chief principle of French policy to stir up dissensions in the 
English royal family, and to separate the continental possessions 
of England from the island kingdom. Unlike his contemporary, 
Richard I of England, Philip had httle of the knight errant in 
his character. He was patient and persevering, a master of 
statecraft and of diplomacy ; he knew how to dissimulate, and 



LOUIS VI AND PSlLIP AUGUSTUS 



229 




Tours {His- 
toriens de 
men of lesser France, 

Another chroni- ^^"^' 3°4) 



Seal of Philip Augustus 

' Philip, by God's grace King of the 
French " 



was unscrupulous in his choice of means. "He was stern," says 
a contemporary, "toward the nobles who disobeyed him. It 

pleased" him to stir up chronicle of 
discord among them, and aCation oj 
he loved to use in his 
service 
rank." 

cler gave him the name of Au- 
gustus, "because he enlarged 
the boundaries of the state." 

Philip's part in the Third 
Crusade (§ 168) was a mere 
episode of his reign. His heart 
was not in the work, and as 
soon as the sense of obligation 
would permit, he returned to 
France, to scheme against his 
rival. But Richard's military and engineering ability, and a 
conflict with the papacy caused by Philip's attempt to divorce ' 
his first wife, prevented Philip from accomplishing much at 
that time. The weakness and wickedness of Richard's succes- 
sor, John, however, gave him his opportunity. In 1202 the Eng- 
lish fiefs were declared forfeited (§ 236). Castle after castle 
was then taken, including the famous Chateau Gaillard, built by 
Richard to guard the passage of the river Seine. All the Eng- 
lish fiefs except Aquitaine passed into Philip's hands ; and the 
battle of Bouvines (12 14) secured him in possession. A vast 
domain, with an extensive seaboard, thus came into the hands 
of the French king, lifting him far above the level of his greatest 
vassals. 

In the reign of Philip Augustus was begun also the movement 
to stamp out the Albigensian heresy in southern France (de- 
scribed in chapter x). The results for civilization and 255. Addi- 
the church of the Albigensian Crusade have already been ^^omain 
noted ; we have here only to set forth its effect in increas- (1229-1271) 
ing the French royal power. Under the treaty which ended 



230 



THE GROWTH OF FRANCE 



that war (1229), a great part of the estates of the count of Tou- 
louse passed immediately to the royal domain ; and another large 
part was gained, some forty years later, upon the death of the 
count's daughter and heiress. These gains in southern France 
almost equaled in extent those made in the north at the ex- 
pense of the king of England. A comparison of the upper 
two maps on page 240 will show how greatly the royal do- 
main was increased in the hundred years which followed the 
accession of Philip Augustus. From a little district about 
Paris and Orleans, less than 200 miles in length, the territory 
under the direct control of the French king increased until 
it extended from Flanders on the north to the Pyrenees Moun- 
tains on the south, and from the Atlantic on the west to the 
river Rhone on the east. And the greater part of this vast gain 
was due to the statesmanship of this wise king, Philip Augustus. 
The development of the towns, which was sketched in a 
preceding chapter, went on at a rapid rate under King Philip ; 
for he welcomed 



256. Paris 

the capital the towns as 

of France ^^^^^^ ^^^.^^ 

against the feudal 
nobles. City independ- 
ence, however, was no 
part of his plan; and 
if with one hand he 
granted charters of lib- 
erties to the towns, 
with the other he ex- 
tended the royal su- 
premacy over them. 

Paris, as the chief 
place of the royal do- 
main, calls for special 
mention. In the time of Julius Caesar, Paris was a little 
cluster of huts on a marshy island of the river Seine. During 
the five hundred years of Roman rule it grew to be a provincial 




Paris under Philip Augustus 




Cathedral of Notre Dame, Paris 

Founded 1163; completed about 1240. Defaced in the French Revolution, but subse- 
quently restored 

231 



232 



THE GROWTH OF FRANCE 



capital. By making it his ordinary place of residence, Philip 
Augustus caused it to become the first national capital of a 
modern state. His fostering care increased its area, erected new 
walls (inclosing territory on both banks of the river), and paved 
its streets to do away with their ill-smelling and unsanitary 
mudholes. He also adorned it with its chief ornament by ar- 
ranging for the completion of the cathedral of Notre Dame, — 
one of the noblest examples of Gothic architecture. 

B. Louis IX (Saint Louis) and Philip IV 
The organization of the territory won by Philip Augustus 
was largely the work of Louis IX (12 26-1 2 70) and of Philip IV 

(1285-1314). 

Louis IX possessed virtues which 
won for him the title of "Saint," 

257. and abilities v/hich insured the 

cStUe^*'* steady growth of the royal 

regent power. He had all the good 

qualities of his age, and few of its bad 
ones. Until he attained the age of 
twenty-one (in 1236), the govern- 
ment was carried on by his mother, 
Blanche of Castile. She was a high- 
minded, ambitious, capable, and 
pious woman, and it was from her 
that Louis derived his best quali- 
ties. The nobles resented her rule 
because she was a woman and a 
foreigner. They also thought the 
occasion favorable to regain lost ter- 
ritories and privileges. The courage 
and ability of Blanche, however, 
were more than a match for her 
enemies. It is not too much to 
say that she saved the monarchy ; and until her death, in 1252, 
she exercised a powerful influence on the French government. 




Saint Louis 

A wooden statue in the Musec 
de Cluny, Paris 



LOUIS IX (SAINT LOUIS) AND PHILIP IV 233 

The most important work of Louis's personal reign was his 
administrative reforms and his legislation. The great in- 
crease in the royal domain under Philip Augustus, and 258. Re- 
the reduction of the feudal nobility within its borders, j^J^j^ jjj 
made necessary a new system of local government. The (1226-1270) 
domain was divided into great provinces, each under a royal 
official who corresponded roughly to the sheriff of an English 
shire or county. These royal officials appointed inferior officers, 
administered justice, collected the royal revenues, and were re- 
sponsible to the central government for the general administra- 
tion of their districts. Since they were usually chosen from 
among the king's own officers, they were more loyal to his in- 
terests, and more impartial in their administration of justice, 
than officers chosen from the feudal nobles. They were an im- 
portant aid, indeed, in keeping the latter in check. Louis also 
improved the administration of justice by abolishing trial by 
combat, by encouraging appeals to the king's court, by in- 
creasing the number of cases which had to be tried in that 
court in the first instance, and by introducing into the adminis- 
tration lawyers trained in the principles of the Roman law. 

Louis's crusades to Egypt (i 248-1 254) and to Tunis (1270) 
won him wide renown for his devotion and courage (§ 172). 
They need not, however, be discussed here, as they were of little 
importance for the history of France. 

Louis's grandson, Philip IV (1285-1314), who was called ''the 
Fair" on account of his good looks, was one of the most im- 
portant kings of medieval France. A modern writer says 2% R ' 
of this king that "he set a mark upon French life of Philip iv 
and government which has never been completely effaced, (^285-1314) 
not even by the floods of successive revolutions." His reign, 
however, had little in it that was picturesque. His most impor- 
tant military project was the attempted annexation of j^ , ^, 
Flanders, whose count had allied himself with the English, of Middle 
with whom Philip was on bad terms. The count was ^^^^' "^^ 
easily overcome, but this was not the case with the sturdy 
Flemish townsmen. The oppressions of French governors soon 



234 THE GROWTH OF FRANCE 

caused them to revolt, and in 1302 they routed the knights of 
the French king in the battle of Courtrai (koor-tre') . This was 
the first of a long series of battles which taught Europe that 
foot soldiers, if properly armed and handled, were more than 
a match for mounted men at arms. The attempt to annex 
Flanders was perforce given up. The only important additions 
which Philip IV made to the royal domain were the city of 
Lyons, on the river Rhone, and the county of Champagne, 
east of Paris, — both made by peaceable methods. 

But if Philip the Fair failed to make much increase in the 
royal domain, he left his impress deep and wide upon the govern- 

260. He or- ment. He completed the work, begun by his predecessors, 
ganizes t e^ ^| organizing the central administration. Royal officials 
emment were now distributed definitely among three distinct 

branches of the government : (i) the Council, for political af- 
fairs; (2) the Exchequer, for finance, with duties similar to 
those of the English Exchequer organized by Henry II; and 
(3) the Parlement (par-le-maN') of Paris, for judicial business. 
The difference in function between the French Parlement and 
the English Parliament must be carefully noted. Both names 
are derived from the same root (the French verb parler mean- 
ing to speak). But the English Parliament is a legislative 
body, while the Parlement of Paris was primarily a supreme 
court, hearing appeals from lower courts and trying cases which 
were in the immediate jurisdiction of the king. In all these 
branches of the central government Philip kept the administra- 
tion in the hands of men of humble origin, who were trained 
in the doctrines of the Roman law. Their zeal and loyalty 
were a constant support to the crown. 

The body which in medieval France corresponded most closely 
to the English Parliament was the Estates-General. This 

261. First was called together, for the first time, by Philip IV in 
General ^S^^. Its history differs from that of the English Parlia- 
(1302) ment in that its three "estates" (the clergy, the nobility, 

and the commons, or Third Estate) remained distinct from 
one another. Class and local interests, therefore, controlled 



LOUIS IX (SAINT LOUIS) AND PHILIP IV 235 

its action, and it never attained the regularity of session and the 
extensive powers which gave the Enghsh Parliament its great 
strength. 

Another important feature of Philip's reign was his struggle 
with Pope Boniface VIII. The question at issue was whether the 
papacy should rule over European states in temporal as well ^gj c 
as in spiritual matters. Gregory VII, Innocent III, and now test with 
Boniface VIII, advanced claims which would have made * ® ^^® 
kings and Emperors mere vassals and dependents of the papacy ; 
and the papal triumph over the house of Frederick II (§ 137) 
seemed firmly to establish these principles. But in France, 
as also in England, a national sentiment was arising which 
enabled the king to maintain his independence. In both 
countries the quarrel arose over a bull issued by Boniface 
(called from its opening words Clericis Laicos), which forbade 
the payment of taxes by the clergy to the laity. In England, 
Edward I brought the clergy to terms by withdrawing from them 
the protection of the law, since they refused to pay taxes to 
support the government. In France, Philip answered the Pope's 
bull by prohibiting the export of money from France, thus 
cutting off contributions to Rome. The immediate question of 
the right of the state to tax the clergy was compromised; but 
disputes continued between the Pope and the king of France 
over the right claimed by the former to intervene in the French 
government. At last Pope Boniface VIII prepared to put 
into execution the powers which he claimed, and to de- 
clare King Philip excommunicated and deposed from his 
throne.^ 

1 In the course of the struggle with Philip, Pope Boniface issued a bull called 
Unam Sanctam. In this the papal claims to temporal power were stated in their 
most explicit form. "There are two swords," argued Boniface, quoting Saint Luke 
(xx, 38), "the spiritual and the temporal. Our Lord said not of these two swords, 
'it is too much,' but, 'it is enough.' Both are in the power of the church: the one 
(the spiritual) to be used by the church, the other (the material), /or the church; the 
former that of priests, the latter that of kings and soldiers, to be wielded at the com- 
mand and by the sufferance of the priest. One sword must be under the other, the 
temporal under the spiritual. The spiritual instituted the temporal power, and 
judges whether that power is well exercised. If the temporal power errs, it is judged 



236 THE GROWTH OF FRANCE 

To prevent the issuing of the bull of excommunication, agents 

of the French king, acting with Boniface's Italian enemies, 

seized the Pope at the little town of Anagni (a-nan'ye), 

Pope seized near Rome, whither he had retired for the summer. He 

at Anagni ^g^g insulted and threatened with deposition, and it was 
(1303) , . 

with difi&culty that his Italian enemies were prevented 

from doing him personal violence. After three days' imprison- 
ment he was set free. Boniface was now an old man, and the 
shock of this humiliation was such that he died within a few 
weeks (1303). He was the last of the great medieval Popes. 

The affair at Anagni is the counterpart to the humiliation of 
the Emperor "Henry IV at Canossa (§ 113). The papacy had 
264. French triumphed over the empire because it had been able to 
overttie ^^^^ ^P rebellion in the Emperor's loosely united dominions, 
papacy But the new national monarchies, when under strong 

kings, were proof against rebellion, for they were grounded on 
national interest and a rising sense of national patriotism. 
Philip IV violated the independence of the papacy without a 
blow being struck in its behalf. In the college of cardinals 
itself his influence was strong enough to secure the election of a 
successor to Boniface who pardoned the insult, and favored, 
the French claims. On the ground that Rome was unsafe 
as a papal residence, because of political troubles in Italy, 
the papacy was removed from Rome to France (1305), and 
was soon established at Avignon (a-ven-yoN') . There it re- 
mained for about seventy years, — until 1377. This is the 
period called the "Babylonian Captivity" of the church (§ 318), 
in which France controlled the papacy as the German Emperors 
had controlled it in the days before Hildebrand. 

Under Philip IV, France was indisputably the first power of 
Europe, and its strength was exercised without scruple. Well 
might the Italian poet Dante speak of the Capetians as " the 
evil tree whose deadly shade all Christendom doth fill." 

by the spiritual. To deny this, is to assert with the heretics two coequal principles. 
We therefore assert, define, and pronounce that it is necessary to salvation to believe 
that every human being is subject to the Pontiff of Rome." 



ACCESSION OF THE VALOIS KINGS 237 

C. Accession of the Valois Kings (1328) 

The death of Philip IV, in 13 14, was followed by the rule, 

in rapid succession, of his three sons, — Louis X, Philip V, and 

Charles IV. The chief interest of these reigns lies in , 

. 265. Suc- 

the question of the succession to the throne. Louis X cession to 

was the first Capetian king to die without a son, and for *^® throne 

the first time the question arose whether a woman could 

reign. An assembly of the nobles and clergy decided against 

Louis's daughter and in favor of his brother Philip. Thus a 

new rule of succession was established, in accordance with which 

no queen has ever held sway over France in her own right. 

When Charles IV, the last of the Capetians in the direct line, 
died (in 1328) without a son, this rule received a further exten- 
sion. The councilors of young Edward III of England claimed 
the throne for him as the nearest male heir, through his mother, 
who was a daughter of Philip IV. A French assembly decided, 
however, that not only was a woman herself debarred from the 
succession, but she could transmit no claim to her son. This 
is the principle to which the name "Sal'ic law" was afterward 
given, on the supposition that it was based on a provision of 
the old law of the Salian Franks. In reality it was based on the 
unwillingness of the French nobles to receive a foreigner as 
king, and at the time nothing was said of the Salic law. 

The choice of the nobles fell upon Philip of Valois (val-wa'), 
representative of the nearest male line of the Capetian house. ^ 
Under the name of Philip VI he was accepted by France ; and 

1 The following genealogy will show the rival claims of the house o'f Valois and 
Edward III : — 

(i) Philip III (1270-1285) 

1 ■ 1 

(2) Philip IV (1285-1314) Charles, Count of Valois 

(6) Philip VI (1328-1350) 
first king of Valois house, which possessed 
the throne until 1498 (see p. 360) 



(3) Louis X (4) Philip V (5) Charles IV Isabella, m. Edward II 

(1314-1316) (1316-1322) (1322-1328) of England 

Edward III 



238 THE GROWTH OF FRANCE 

in 1329, and again in 133 1, Edward III acknowledged him as his 
lord for the fief of Guienne (ge-en', i.e. Aquitaine). Other 
causes, however, soon led to war between England and France, 
and then the claim of Edward III to the French throne became 
a factor in the contest which we call the Hundred Years' War. 
.A comparison of the development of France during the Middle 
Ages with that of Germany and England is instructive. In 

266. French, Germany the decentralizing tendencies of feudalism pre- 

German, vailed. A minute territorial division was the result, and 

and English , „ , . 

develop- the Emperor was despoiled of all power, without profit 

™^'^* to the people. In England the struggle between the feudal 

nobles and the crown produced a constitutional monarchy, 
under which the rights and liberties of the people rapidly de- 
veloped. In France the crown grew at the expense of the feudal 
nobles ; but this was without gain to the people, save through 
the greater security and better government which followed. 

After the fall of the Hohenstaufen house (§ 137) France be- 
came the most important country of Europe. The part which 

267. French ^^® Emperors formerly had played in Italy was now taken 
art and by the French kings. The intellectual and artistic in- 

eaming fluence of France was also great. "Her intellect," says 
an eminent historian, "gave expression to the whole civilization 
of that period, — religious, feudal, and knightly. The French 
wrote heroic poems, built castles and cathedrals, and inter- 
preted the texts of Aristotle and the Scriptures. Their songs, 
buildings, and scholastic philosophy verged upon perfection. 
Lavisse Gen- Already independent, already mobile and sprightly, the 
erai View of French mind freed itself from tradition and authority. 
^Ei'^torToi ^^ produced the aerial grace of Gothic art. Christian 
Europe, 6i- Europc copied French cathedrals, recited French heroic 
^ and humorous songs, and thus learned the French language. 

Almost all the universities of Europe were like swarms of bees 
from the hive of Mount Saint Genevieve [University of Paris]. 
A proverb said that the world was ruled by three powers, — 
the Papacy, the Empire, and Learning; the first residing in 
Rome, the second in Germany, the third in Paris," 



TOPICS AND REFERENCES 239 

IMPORTANT DATES 

1108-1137. Louis VI reduces the crown domain to order. 

1202-1206. Philip Augustus breaks the Angevin power in France. 

1 2 14. Battle of Bouvines. 

1 226-1270. Reign of Louis IX (Saint Louis). 

1285-1314. Reign of Philip IV. 

1302. Battle of Courtrai. 

1302. First meeting of the Estates-General. 

1305. Seat of papacy transferred to France; beginning of Babylonian 

Captivity. 
1 3 16. Women excluded from the French throne. 
1328. Claims of Edward III of England to the French throne rejected, 

and Philip VI, of the house of Valois, made king. 

TOPICS AND REFERENCES 

Suggestive Topics. — (i) How did the possession of England by the Nor- 
man dukes change their relations with the kings of France? (2) What 
does the length of the struggle to reduce the domain to order show concern- 
ing the power of the French crown at this time? (3) Make a list of the 
things which contributed to the growth of the power of the French kings. 
(4) What was the chief difference between the Parlement of Paris and the 
English Parliament? (5) What preliminary training of the English helped 
to make their Parliament more effective than the French Estates-General? 
(6) What arguments could be advanced on the side of Philip IV and of Boni- 
face VIII in their quarrel over taxation? (7) How do you account for 
the preeminence of France over other countries in the Middle Ages ? 

Search Topics. — (i) Personality of Philip Augustus. Dunn Pattison, 
Leading Figures in European History; Hutton, Philip Augustus, 15-18, 
204-225. — -(2) The Fall of the Angevins. Hutton, Philip Augustus, 
ch. iii. — (3) Battle of Bouvines. Hutton, Philip Augustus, ch. iv; 
Oman, Art of War, 457-479. — (4) Paris in the Middle Ages. Tout, 
Empire and. Papacy, 403; Encyclopedia Britamiica (nth ed.), XX, 813- 
818. — (s) Personality of Louis IX. Perry, 5^. Louis, ch.. x\; Munro 
and Sellery, Medieval Civilization, 491-523; Ogg, Source Book, ch. xix. — • 
(6) Philip IV and Boniface VIII. Milman, Latin Christianity, Bk. XI, 
ch. ix. — (7) The Development of French Institutions Compared 
WITH THOSE OF ENGLAND. Adams, Civilization during the Middle Ages, 
320-331. 

General Reading. — Adams's Growth of the French Nation is the best brief 
history of France. Other histories in English are Jameson's edition of 
Duruy's France, Masson's Medieval France, and Kitchin's History of France 
(3 vols.). 




ENGLISH POSSESSIONS IN FRANCE, H80-1429 

AFTBR 1453 ENGLAND RETAINED ONLY CALAIS, AS ON P. 338 



240 



CHAPTER XIII 

THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR (1337-1453) 

A. Origin of the War 

Many causes combined to produce the succession of conflicts 
between England and France which we call the Hundred Year's' 
War. (i) The conquests of Philip Augustus had left 268. Causes 
a lingering hostility between the two countries, and the °* *® '"'^^ 
rejection of the claims of Edward III to the French throne in- 
creased the feeling. (2) There was continual friction over the 
English possession of Guienne. (3) In Scotland the French 
aided the young king, David Bruce, against the English attempts 
at conquest. X4) Finally, there was a conflict of interests in 
Flanders, which led directly to the war. 

Although Flanders was a French fief, the prosperity of the 
Flemish townsmen depended on the manufacture of cloth which 
they made from English wool. In 1336 the French king, Philip 
VI, recklessly caused the arrest of all Englishmen who were 
in Flanders. In retaliation Edward III seized Flemish mer- 
chants in his kingdom, and forbade the exportation of English 
wool. The Flemish burghers thereupon rebelled, and formed 
an alliance with England to secure their accustomed wool sup- 
plies. To satisfy Flemish scruples against warring upon their 
king, Edward III took the title of king of France, — a title which 
his successors did not finally abandon until the time of George 
HI (1802). Previous wars between England and France had 
been feudal struggles between their kings, the people taking 
little part. French interference with English trade interests 
now aroused the English Parliament to enthusiastic support 
of the war. Edward's claim to the throne of France, on the other 

2^1 



242 



THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR 



hand, made the war a life-ahd-death struggle on the part of the 
French monarchy. 

We may distinguish three distinct periods of active warfare 
in this long conflict. , The first period lasted from its outbreak, 

260 Three ^^ ^337 j ^^ ^^^ peace of Bretigny (bre-ten-ye') , in 1360. 

periods of The second period began with the renewal of hostilities 
in 1369, and lasted to their decline following the death 
of the French king, Charles V, in 1380. After a long interval, 
filled with troubles in both countries, the third period of the 
war began with the invasion of France by Henry V in" 141 5, 
and lasted with some interruptions until 1453. 



the war 



ch. so 



B. First Period of the War (1337-1360) 

The operations of the first few years were carried on by 

Edward III in Flanders and were without appreciable results. 

270. Naval I^ 1340, however, Edward and 

victory at his lieet met the French fleet 

ish coast. The incompetent French 
commanders had huddled their ves- 

Froissart ^^^^ together in a narrow inlet. 

Chronicles,^ where maneuvering was impos- 
sible. The battle, therefore, re- 
sembled a land conflict. "Archers 

' Froissart's Chronicles is one of the most noted 
histories composed during the Middle Ages. It 
was written in French, and shows the dawn of the 
Renaissance spirit. Froissart was born in the 
neighborhood of Flanders just as the Hundred 
Years' War was beginning. He spent consider- 
able time in England, Scotland, and Italy, as well 
as in France. He was personally acquainted with 
many actors in this great war, from whom he 
learned of the events which he narrates. "No 

newspaper correspondent, no American interviewer, ever equaled this medieval 
collector of intelligence." His history, however, is one-sided, for his sympathies 
were all with the knightly class whose picturesque deeds he recounts, rather than 
with the humbler townsmen and peasants. 




Genoese Crossbowman 



FIRST PERIOD OF THE WAR 



243 



and crossbows began to shoot, and men of arms approached 
and fought hand to hand ; and the better to come together they 
had great hooks and grapplers of iron to cast out of one ship 
into another, and so tied them fast together." The battle 
ended in complete victory for the English. Thenceforth, for a 
generation, they were masters of the sea and could land their 
expeditions where they wished. 

In 1346 occurred the first important battle of the war on 
land. An expedition under Edward III advanced from Nor- 
mandy up the valley of the Seine, until the flames of the Battle 
villages fired by the English could be seen from the walls of Crecy 
of Paris. Without attempting to attack the capital, ^^^^ ■' 
Edward turned northward to join his forces with those of the 
Flemings, while an enormous French army under King Philip 
followed him. Seeing this, Edward took up a position near the 
village of Crecy (kra-se'), from which the battle takes its name. 

The English forces consisted chiefly of 
infantry armed with the longbow, — the 
excellence of which had been proved in the 
wars of Edward I against the Welsh and 
Scots. They were stationed in three divi- 
sions, on the slope of a hill. The French 
outnumbered the English five to one, but 
consisted chiefly of mounted men at arms, 
with a body of hired Genoese crossbowmen. 
The latter were first sent forward to the 
attack. They were tired with a long day's 
march, and their crossbow strings were per- 
haps slacked with a wetting received in a 
passing thundershower. They were no 
match for the English longbowmen, and 
when the shafts of the latter began to fall 
"so thick that it seemed as. if it snowed," 
the Genoese broke and fled. At this, Philip in passion called 
out, "Slay these rascals, for they trouble us without reason." 
"And ever still," says the chronicler Froissart, "the English- 




English Longbowman 



244 THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR 

men shot wherever they saw thickest press. The sharp arrows 
T, . , ran into the men of arms and into their horses; and 

Froibsart, ' 

Chronicles, many fell, horse and men, among the Genoese, and when 
^^° they were down they could not arise again, the press was 

so thick that one overthrew another." 

A portion of the French finally managed to reach the English- 

■ knights, under the Black Prince, son of Edward III, who were 

on foot in the rear of the archers. In haste messengers were 

sent to inform the king, who with the reserve coolly watched 

Froissart ^^^ battle from a windmill at the top of the hill. " Return 

Chronicles, to them that sent you," said Edward, "and say to them 

^ ' ^^° that they send no more to me as long as my son is alive. 

And also say to them that they suffer him this day to win his 

spurs ; for if God be pleased, I will that this day be his and the 

honor thereof." 

At nightfall the English lines were still unbroken, while the 
French were in hopeless confusion. Philip fled wounded from 
272. Out- ^^^ field, leaving behind him among the slain eleven princes 
come of the of France and thousands of lesser rank. The English 
loss was inconsiderable. The victory was due chiefly 
to the English archers and to the tactical skill of King Edward. 
Even if cannon of a small, crude sort were not (as some writers 
claim) used at Crecy,^ the battle nevertheless foretold, 
Lodge Close equally with that of Courtrai (§ 2 59), a new era in warfare. 
oj the Middle "It was a combat of infantry against cavalry, of missile 
^^^' ^ weapons against heavy armor and lances, of trained pro- 

fessional soldiers against a combination of foreign mercenaries 

1 Cannon were certainly known in Europe as early as 1326, in which year pro- 
vision was made by the city of Florence for their manufacture. But these early 
cannon were very imperfect, being made of a number of iron bars welded together 
and reenforced by iron hoops. The gunpowder of that time was also very weak, 
owing to impurities in its composition, and the missiles were usually stones 
roughly chipped into a round form. The first mention (1340) of the use of cannon 
in France (Froissart, ch. in) implies that their chief effect was to frighten the horses 
of the enemy by their noise. Not until the middle of the next century did artillery 
become so improved as to be useful in battering down castles and other fortifications. 
The development of hand firearms (the arquebus, musket, pistol) came even later. 
See Encyclopedia Britannica, art, "Gunpowder," 



FIRST PERIOD OF THE WAR 245 

with disorderly feudal levies. And the inevitable result was 
made the more decisive by the utter want of generalship on 
the part of the French king." 




Battle of Crecy 

From a MS. in the Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris. Note the crossbowmen at left; 
longbowmen at right. The representation is not wholly accurate. 

After the battle, Edward continued his retreat unmolested, 
and laid siege to Calais (ka-le'). In spite of heroic resistance 
the town was obliged to surrender. Although Edward did ^73 Calais 
not, as he at first threatened, put to death the leading towns- captured 
men, the whole population was expelled and their places ^^^47) 
taken by English settlers. Thenceforth for two hundred 
years Calais was an English town, an outpost of England's 
power and trade. Its possession, with that of Dover on the 



246 THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR 

Other side of the Channel, went far to confirm the claim of the 
EngHsh king to be "lord of the narrow seas." 

After the fall of Calais, a truce was arranged which lasted for 
several years. In this interval the exhaustion caused by the war 
274. Rav- ^^^ intensified by a terrible pestilence, called the "Black 
ages of the Death," which resembled the bubonic plague of to-day. 
. Arising in Asia, it reached Europe by way of Egypt and 
Syria, appearing in Sicily, Tuscany, and Provence (pro-vaNs') 
in 1347. We now know that the "plague" is carried by a 
certain kind of fleas, which live on rats ; and it is probable 
that the fleas came in bundles of merchandise which caravans 
brought to the eastern Mediterranean, and which were dis- 
tributed thence through Europe. During the winter months 
of 1347 the progress of the disease was checked. Next summer 
it resumed its march, spreading "from city to city, from village 
to village, from house to house, from man to man." Germany 
and England experienced its ravages in 1349 and 1350 ; Norway 
and Russia in 135 1. 

Everywhere the mortality was frightful. During the four 

years that this plague lasted, at least a third of the inhabitants 

^, . , . of Europe were carried off. In some of the provinces 

Cnromcle oj '^ '^ 

Gilles Li of France, two thirds of the population perished. "It 
Mmsis m -^ ij;npossible to believe " wrote a French monk of that 

Gasquet, ^ ' 

The Black time, "the number who have died throughout the whole 
Death, 58 country. Travelers, merchants, pilgrims, declare that 
they have found cattle wandering without herdsmen in fields, 
towns, and waste lands. They have seen barns and wine- 
cellars standing wide open, houses empty, and few people to 
be found anywhere. In many towns where there were before 
20,000 people, scarcely 2000, are left. In many places the fields 
lie uncultivated." The dead were buried hastily, great numbers 
at a time, in long ditches dug in the fields, for the cemeteries 
were filled to overflowing. The unsanitary arrangements of 
the Middle Ages — the complete lack of sewerage systems, 
the accumulations of filth and decaying matter in streets and 
houses, and the pollution of water supplies — help to explain 



FIRST PERIOD OF THE WAR 



247 



the great mortality. Where conditions were better, as among 
the monks of Christ Church, Canterbury, the mortahty was less. 
The Black Death was only the most terrible of many plagues 
which visited Europe in the Middle Ages, the recurrence of 
which gradually ceased with advance in cleanliness and sanitary 
science. 

In France the influence of the Black Death was complicated 
by the injury wrought by war and misgovernment.^ On the 
reduced population the heavy taxes fell with double force. Deso- 

The peasants had to contribute to pay ransoms for the lation of 
deliverance of their lords from captivity, and for the re- 
demption of their own goods from destruction. They were 
forced by both sides to labor without 
pay in carrying supplies, and at siege oper- 
ations. Often they were tortured to extort 
money and provisions, when they them- 
selves lacked bread for their families. To 
escape such evils, peasants fled in large 
numbers to the depths of the forests, only 
to die there of famine and the attacks of 
wolves. Through the joint operation of 
the plague and the war, the rude prosper- 
ity which had characterized the French 
people at the beginning of the century was 
brought to an end, and their condition be- 
came pitiable in the extreme. 

Philip VI died in 1350. His son John 
(1350-1364) was a good knight, but with- 
out capacity for government or gen- 276. Battle 
eralship. In 1355 the Black Prince of Poitiers 
led an expedition into southern France ^ 
and the next year started to march north- 
ward to Normandy. Near Poitiers (pwa- 
tya') he was confronted by a French army 




The Black Prince 

From a brass figure on 
his tomb 



^ The influence of the Black Death on the agricultural system of England is 
treated in the following chapter (§ 305). 



248 THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR 

many times larger than his own. So hopeless seemed the odds, 
that he offered (but in vain) to surrender his spoil and his 
prisoners, and to bind himself not to fight again for seven 
years, as the price of a free retreat. 

As at Crecy, the English force consisted principally of archers, 
while the French were mostly mounted and armored knights. 
The English were stationed on a little plateau protected by a 
hedge and by rough and marshy ground. King John was per- 




Battle of Poitiers 
From a MS. in the Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris 

suaded that the strength of the English at Crecy had been due, 

not to their archers, but to the fact that their men at arms were 

dismounted. Accordingly, he ordered his knights to advance 

on foot, thus throwing away his chief advantage. The first 

and second divisions of his army failed to accomplish anything. 

Upon their retiring, the third division, commanded by the king 

himself, was left to bear the whole weight of the English coun- 

Froissart ^^^ attack. "There was a sore fight," says Froissart, 

Chronicles, "and many a great stroke given and received. King 

chs. 162-164 JqJ^jj w\\h his own hands did that day marvels in arms ; ~ 

he had an ax in his hands wherewith he defended himself and 



FIRST PERIOD OF THE WAR 249 

fought in the breaking of the press." Refusing to flee, he and 
his youngest son were taken captives by the English. 

The whole number of prisoners was twice that of their English 
captors. "That day," says Froissart, "whosoever took any 
prisoner, he was clear his, and might quit or ransom him pjoisga^^t 
at his pleasure. All such as were there with the prince Chronicles, 
were made rich with honor and goods, as well by ransom- ^ ' ^ 
ing of prisoners as by winning of gold, silver, plate, jewels, that 
were there found." After the battle the Black Prince enter- 
tained the captive king, waiting upon him in person at table. 
But for all this chivalrous display, the English shrewdly ex- 
tracted full advantage from the victory. Pending the accept- 
ance of their terms. King John was carried prisoner to London, 
where for four years he was detained iri honorable captivity. 

France meanwhile was in a deplorable condition. The govern- 
ment was carried on by the king's eldest son, the Dauphin 
Charles.^ Charles was an untried youth, and demoraliza- 277. Peas- 
tion pervaded every branch of the government. In 1358 -^ France 
there was added to other miseries a great uprising of the (1358) 
peasants.^ They had suffered the most from the war and pesti- 
lence, and to their dulled minds the disasters of Crecy and 
Poitiers were explainable only on the theory that the nobles 
had betrayed France. The revolt was confined to a few provinces 
in northern France, but it was characterized by the utmost 
ferocity. The peasants seemed turned by their sufferings into 
wild beasts, and the nobles retaliated in like manner. The revolt 
was soon put down, and the lot of the peasant, who was now 
dreaded as well as despised, became worse than before. 

1 This prince was the first of the heirs apparent of France to bear the title of 
dauphin. The title was derived from the Dauphine (do-fe-na'), just east of the 
river Rhone, which was annexed to France in 1340. 

2 This revolt of the peasants was called the Jacquerie (zhak-re'), from the French 
nickname for a peasant, Jacques Bonhomme (zhak bo-nom') . This name is perhaps 
also the origin of our term "country Jake." The attempt at this time of the 
townsmen of Paris, under their leader Stephen Marcel, to give France a con- 
stitutional government may be made the subject of a special report. See reference 
at the close of the chapter. 



250 THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR 

A treaty with England was at last concluded at Bretigny 
in 1360. The following were its chief provisions (map, p. 240) : — 

op I. John agreed to pay a large money ransom. 

of Bre- 2. He granted to Edward III full sovereignty over Aquitaine, 

tigi^y Calais, and the district about Crecy. 

3. Edward III abandoned his claim to the French crown. 

All questions seemed settled and the war ended by this treaty. 
If Edward III failed to win the French crown, he had gained 
in Calais an important outpost across the Channel, and had 
considerably enlarged his territories in southern France. Above 
all, he had thrown off his feudal dependence on the French king 
for the lands which he possessed in that kingdom. He might 
well be content with the gains shown by this period of the war. 

C. Second Period of the War (1369-1380) 

Four years after the peace of Bretigny, King John died at 

London, whither he had returned on a visit of mingled business 

279. Charles and pleasure. The new king, Charles V (1364-1380), 

the war^ ^^^ ^^ dauphin gained in experience. As king he is 

(1369) known as Charles "the Wise," for he proved one of the 

ablest rulers of France in the Middle Ages. He was a shrewd, 

practical statesman, who knew how to select good generals, 

and fought no useless battles. During the first five years of 

-his reign peace was kept with England and the abuses in the 

government were remedied. Then in 1369 a dispute arose over 

Aquitaine, which gave Charles an excuse for repudiating the 

treaty of Bretigny and reasserting French suzerainty over the 

English possessions. Edward III thereupon renewed the war, 

and resumed his claim to the French throne. 

Every advantage was now on the side of France. England 

was tired of the contest, Edward III was old and enfeebled 

280 Sue- (^^ ^^^ ^^ ^377); ^^d the Black Prince was burdened with 

cess of the a disease which carried him off a year before his father. 

Frenc rpj^^ command of the sea was also with the French, — 

thanks to the fleet of the king of Castile, whom Charles had aided 



SECOND AND THIRD PERIODS OF THE WAR 25 1 

against a rival who was supported by the English. Finally, 
the French now had a first-class general in the person of a Breton 
noble ^ who cast aside the old knightly traditions of warfare, 
used professional soldiers instead of the disorderly feudal levies, 
and carried on a cautious campaign of rapid maneuvers, strata- 
gems, and ambuscades. As a result of these changed conditions, 
place after place fell into the hands of the French. The extent 
of the conquests made by Charles V may be seen from the fact 
that when a truce was made in 1375, Calais in the north and 
Bordeaux (bor-do') and Bayonne (ba-yon') in the south were 
the only important strongholds left in English hands. 

This, however, proved the limit of Charles's success. He 
died in 1380. His son, Charles VI (1380-1422), was a sickly 
boy who became insane soon after he attained manhood. 281. Cessa- 
His whole reign, therefore, was filled with contests of ^^^ ?i38o- 
French princes for control of the government. These 1415) 
reached their height in 1407, when the king's cousin, the surly 
duke of Burgundy, caused the murder of the duke of Orleans, 
brother of the king, and leader of the opposing faction. Civil 
war then broke out between the rival parties of Burgundians 
and Or'leanists. Fortunately for France, this was also for 
England a time of peasant revolt and party struggles (§§ 306, 
308). For a full generation, therefore, the war languished. 

D. Third Period or the War (1415-1453) 

The renewal of the war came soon after Henry V, the hero- 
king of England, succeeded to the English throne (1413). The 
title of his house to rule was disputed, and his father's 282. War 
reign had been distracted by many troubles growing out renewed: 
of this fact. Henry V resolved, therefore, to "busy Agincourt 
giddy minds with foreign quarrels" (as the poet Shake- (1415) 
speare phrases it) and raised again the English claims to the 
French throne. 

1 Named Bertrand du Guesclin (ber-traN' dii ge-klaN') ; his career may well be 
made the subject for a written or oral report. See references at the close of this 
chapter . 



252 THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR 

In 141 5 Henry led an army into Normandy, whence he 
marched northward toward Calais. At Agincourt (a-zhaN- 
koor'), near Crecy, his way was blocked by a great French 
army, composed mainly of Orleanists, who at that moment 
were in control of the French government. The French seem 
to have learned wisdom neither from the disasters of King John 
nor from the successes of Charles V. Again their forces were 
chiefly dismounted knights, weighted down with their heavy 
armor. They were packed so close in a narrow defile between 
two woods that they scarcely had room to wield their swords. 
To make matters worse, the field was newly harrowed and ankle- 
deep with mud. Well might King Henry say, the night before 
the battle, that he "wished not for a single man more" to share 
the glory. A third English victory, equal to those won at 
Crecy and Poitiers, was the result. 

Instead of uniting French parties, the disaster at Agincourt 
only made the feuds of the princes more bitter. In 1419, at 
28^ Treaty ^ Conference between the Dauphin Charles (now head 
of Troyes of the Orleanist party) and the duke of Burgundy, the 
(1420) latter was treacherously slain by the Orleanists, in revenge 

for the murder of their leader twelve years before. The new 
duke of Burgundy, as a consequence, put himself unreservedly 
on the English side. In 1420 a treaty was signed at Troyes 
by the shameless French queen, Isabella, who was under Bur- 
gundy's influence. It contained the following provisions : — 

1. The Dauphin Charles was disinherited because of his part in the 

murder of the late duke of Burgundy. 

2. Henry V was to marry Catherine, the daughter of Isabella and 

Charles VI. 

3. Henry was at once to become regent, and his title to the throne of 

France was to be recognized after the death of Charles VI. 

The dauphin naturally refused to accept this outrageous 

treaty. Southern France remained loyal to him, but the north 

284. Acces- (including the capital) passed into English hands. Henry 

Charles VII ^'^ ^^^^ ^^ France was short, as he died in 1422. Seven 

(1422) weeks later the pathetic life of Charles VI also came to an 



THIRD PERIOD OF THE WAR 253 

end. The heir to both England and France, by the treaty of 
Troyes, was a babe less than a year old, — Henry VI, the 
son of Henry V and Catherine. Such sentiment of nation- 
ality as existed in France supported the claims of the dauphin, 
now called Charles VII (142 2-146 1). But his resources were 
slender, and his court was distracted by the quarrels of his 
adherents. During the first seven years of his reign, little 
progress was made in driving the English from the realm. 

In 1429 a new factor entered the struggle in the person of • 
Joan of Arc. Joan was an uneducated peasant maid of north- 
eastern France. She was of a religious temperament, and ^ge joan 
after reaching the age of fourteen began to hear "voices" of Arc 
and see visions of saints and angels, in which she firmly (^429-1431) 
believed. She was much affected by the troubles of her time. 
At the age of seventeen her "voices" urged her to go to the 
dauphin, lead him to Rheims to be crowned, and deliver France. 
With much difficulty she reached the king's court, in male attire. 
There she so impressed Charles that he gave her an opportunity 
to show the reality of her powers. The city of Orleans at this 
time was besieged by the English ; if it fell, it would carry with it 
the ruin of the French cause. Equipped with armor and a holy 
banner, Joan set out with a small force, and entered Orleans in 
April, 1429. Under the inspiration of her courage, faith, and 
enthusiasm, blow after blow was struck against the English, 
and within ten days the siege of Orleans was raised. The French 
seemed suddenly to have become invincible. Success followed 
success, and in July the Maid of Orleans, as she was now called, 
was able to lead Charles across a hostile country to Rheims, 
for coronation at the place where his ancestors had been crowned. 
Thus Joan's chief mission was accomplished. 

After this, Charles VII was received by the French people 
with enthusiasm. But the successes won by Joan aroused the 
jealousy of Charles's advisers, and they did all they could to 
thwart her further plans. In September she was wounded 
while leading an attack on Paris. In May of the next year she 
was taken prisoner by the Burgundians, and eventually sold 




Relief of Orleans by Joan of Arc 
From a mural painting by Lenepveu, in the Pantheon, Paris 



254 



THIRD PERIOD OF THE WAR 



255 



to the English. The latter wished to break the spell of her 
deeds by proving her a witch, that is, a person in league with the 
devil. She was accused of sorcery and heresy, and was tried 
before a bishop who was an English partisan. Her condemna- 
tion was a foregone conclusion. At Rouen, in May, 143 1, — 
wearing the cap of those condemned by the Inquisition, on which 
were painted devils and flames, with the words, ''Relapsed 
heretic, apostate, and idolater," — she was burned at the stake. 




Entry of Charles VII into Paris 
From a miniature in a thirteenth-century manuscript 

The nobility and purity of her character were such as to impress 
even her enemies. "We are lost; we have burned a saint!" 
were the words of an Englishman who witnessed her execution. 
The greatest blot on the fame of Charles VII is the ingratitude 
he showed in making no effort to rescue from death the brave 
girl who, more than any one else, saved for him the throne of 
France. 

The influence of Joan survived her in the energy with which 
the war was continued. Four years after her death, Philip 
of Burgundy abandoned the English cause, on condition that 



256 THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR 

he be given certain lands and be freed from all homage to 
Charles VII during his lifetime. France was thus once more 
286. Close united. A series of reforms also gave to the crown a stand- 
of the war ing army, a force of improved artillery, — for cannon were 
becoming effective, — and a permanent revenue. While 
the French government was thus strengthened, England was 
weakened by the insanity of King Henry VI, and the growth 
of dissensions among the English princes. In these circumstances 
the expulsion of the English from France was only a question 
of time. Paris soon surrendered to one of Charles's generals; 
presently Normandy and the greater part of Aquitaine were 
conquered; and finally, in 1453, Bordeaux fell. Only Calais 
remained in English hands, to be kept for a century longer. 
The Hundred Years' War, with its enormous injury, both ma- 
terial and moral, to both parties, came quietly to an end with- 
out a formal treaty of peace. 

Instead of winning for the English crown the whole of France, 
• the Hundred Years' War lost for it possessions which had been 
287 Re- ^^^^ ^y English kings since the accession of Henry II 
suits of the (11 54). For France the struggle had these results: (i) 
^^"^ The French king was delivered from the anomaly of having 

a rival king among his vassals. (2) The power of the crown 
was consolidated into almost absolute monarchy. (3) A 
national sentiment was born, which ultimately led to the com- 
plete nationality of to-day. (4) But against these gains 
must be balanced fearful losses inflicted upon land and people, 
the check to population, and the brutalization of long-continued 
and unrestrained warfare. 

IMPORTANT DATES 

1346. Battle of Crecy. 

1347. Calais taken by the English. 

1347. The Black Death first appears in France. 

1356. Battle of Poitiers. 

1360. Peace of Bretigny. 

1369. Renewal of the war; successes of Charles V. 

1377-1415. England weakened by party struggles. 

1380-1435. France weakened by party struggles. 



TOPICS AND REFERENCES 257 

1415. Henry V wins the battle of Agincotirt. 

1419. Duke of Burgundy murdered by the Orleanists. 

1420. Treaty of Troyes. 

1429. Joan of Arc relieves Orleans. 

1431. Joan burned as a heretic by the English. 

1435- The duke of Burgundy abandons the English. 

1453. The English driven from Aquitaine ; end of the war. 

TOPICS AND REFERENCES 

Suggestive Topics. — (i) What advantage did the battle of Sluys give 
the English ? (2) What enabled the English to win at Crecy and Poitiers ? 
(3) Of what value was Calais to the English ? (4) Was King John of France 
a good soldier ? Was he a good general ? (5) What change was to be made 
in the position of the English in Aquitaine by the treaty of Bretigny? 
(6) Make a list of reasons for the French successes in the second period of 
the war. (7) Why did those successes not continue after 1380? (8) Why 
did Joan of Arc experience difficulty in obtaining an opportunity to show 
her powers? (9) Was it only jealousy of her that led Charles's advisers 
to oppose her plans ? (10) Why were the English determined to prove her 
a heretic? (11) Was it a good or a bad thing for England that it lost its 
possessions in France ? 

Search Topics. — (i) Battlk or Crecy. Oman, Art of War, 603-615; 
Robinson, Readings in European History, I, 466-470; George, Battles of 
English History, S4--(>7- — (2) Deeds or the Black Prince. Encyclopedia 
Britannica (nth ed.), VIIT, 999-1000; Froissart, Chronicles; Dunn 
Pattison, The Black Prince. — (3) The Black Death. Jessopp, Coming of 
the Friars, ch. iv ; Trevelyan, England in the Age of Wyclijfe, 183-195 ; 
Gasquet, The Great Pestilence, 34-57, 194-219. — (4) Stephen Marcel. 
Lodge, Close of the Middle Ages, 81-88. — (5) Bertrand du Guesclin. 
Encyclopedia Britannica, "Du Guesclin"; Stoddard, Bertrand du Guesclin, 
chs. xii-xv. — ■ (6) Early Life of Joan of Arc. Lang, The Maid of 
France, chs. ii-v; Lowell, Joan of Arc; Lea, Inquisition, III, 338-378; 
Gx&e.n, Short History, 2T1-2?,!. — (7) The Relief or Orleans. Lang, chs. 
viii-xi; Lowell, Joan of Arc. — (8) Joan's Trial and Execution. Lang, 
chs. xxii-xxvi ; 'Lovfe\\,Joan of Arc. — (9) Arms and Armor in the Time 
of the Hundred Years' War. Boutell, Arms and Armour, 113-152; 
Scribner's Magazine, III, 3-19. — (10) The Longbow and Crossbow. 
Boutell, Arms and Armour, 137-146; Oman, Art of War, 557-562. 

General Reading. — Froissart's Chronicles (several translations) are a 
mine of picturesque incidents for the period of the Hundred Years' War. 
Lanier's The Boys' Froissart is the best edition for school use. Lodge, 
The Close of the Middle Ages, gives a dry but scholarly account. 




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CHAPTER XIV 
EUROPEAN STATES IN THE LATER MIDDLE AGES 

A. Rise of the Modern State 

One of the important contrasts between medieval and modern 

times is the difference in the nature and functions of their govern- 

2gg ments. It was especially in the fourteenth and fifteenth 

Changes in centuries that the development from the one to the other 

government j-ypg of government began. Before turning, therefore, 

to the history of the separate countries of western Europe, we 

will first examine briefly the character of these differences. 

First among them we may count the practical disappear- 
ance in modern times of the Holy Roman Empire. In the 

289. Weak- Middle Ages the empire was the counterpart to the 
Hoiv Roman Holy Roman Church. It was supposed, equally with 
Empire the latter, to have been founded by God; and to it all 

persons, in theory, owed allegiance. In reality the claim of the 
empire to universal rule, even in western Europe, was never 
completely established; and the long-continued conflicts be- 
tween papacy and empire practically destroyed what power 
it did possess. As a name for the government of the German 
confederation it continued to exist ; but, in the words of a witty 
Frenchman, it was fast becoming "neither holy, nor Roman, 
nor an empire." In place, therefore, of a single great state 
comprising all Europe, there now came in the idea of a Europe 
divided into a number of separate territorial states. 

Another difference is to be found in the greater unity of the 

290. Na- new states as compared with feudal governments. "In 
against the Middle Ages," says a French writer, "every large 
feudal ties proprietor lived like a sovereign on his domains. Every 

organized city governed itself like a republic. Each country 

260 



RISE OF THE MODERN STATE 26 1 

was divided into several thousand petty, independent powers, 
who negotiated with one another as if they were foreign nations. 
The inhabitant of a town or feudal lordship was considered a 
foreigner in the neighboring town or lordship. To have ^ . , 

. ? , . 1 T 1 SeignoDOfe, 

the right even of taking there his merchandise, he was Medieval 
obliged to have a special permission. Each lordship, '^'^^ Modem 

. . . . Civilization, 

each town, had its tribunal, its treasury, its army, its 211 (trans- 
customs, its complete government. But this government lotion con- 
was only exercised within the limits of the lordship or of 
the town. Consequently there was no government for the whole 
country, no nation, not even a state." The direct tie which in 
modern times binds all subjects or citizens to the head of the 
state was wanting in strictly feudal societies. 

Nor was this all. The ties of sympathy were stronger be- 
tween members of the same class who dwelt in different countries, 
than they were between members of different classes in the same 
country. Thus the nobility of France, Germany, and other 
countries had more in common with one another than any of 
them had with the townsmen or peasantry of their own country. 
To put this fact in another way, we may say that the social 
cleavage in the Middle Ages was along class lines, and not along 
national lines. 

With the rise of the modern state, these conditions changed. 
Feudal rights of government were everywhere restricted, and 
the sovereignty of the state was reconstituted. All inhabitants 
are now bound to the head of the state by a duty of allegiance 
and service which is superior to that owing to any other person. 
A consciousness of a common nationality — based on the posses- 
sion of the same speech, the same government, the same mem- 
ories, interests, and hopes — began to arise. The sentiment 
of patriotism, that is, of loyalty to one's native land, was born. 
The ties which united together all the inhabitants of a country 
became closer, therefore, while the cleavage between different 
countries became sharper and more distinct. 

The modern state also differs from feudal governments in the 
extent of the powers which it exercises. Many functions of 



262 EUROPEAN STATES IN LATER MIDDLE AGES 

government which had existed in the ancient Roman Empire 

— such as support of hospitals, orphan asylums, poor relief, 

291. En- schools and universities — disappeared during the feudal 

tions of gov- period, or were left to private charity and to the church. 

ernment Road-making, bridge-building, and the construction of 

public buildings (except churches and town halls) practically 

ceased altogether. 

With the rise of the modern state, these functions of govern- 
ment were, resumed. The enforcement of justice, and the hold- 
ing of courts, which had earlier been left to the feudal lords, 
were also restored to the state. A constantly enlarging sphere 
of action by the state is one of the marks of modern times. 
With these greatly increased functions there came naturally 
a larger staff of paid officials in the service of the government. 
As a result, the old feudal and royal revenues of the crown no 
longer sufficed. Taxes, which had practically disappeared with 
the overthrow of the old Roman Empire, were therefore revived. 
And since every state had to be in a position to enforce its com- 
mands upon its subjects, and to repell the attacks of other states, 
there arose the necessity of police forces and standing armies. 

As a result of such changes as these, we find in most of the 
countries of western Europe, in the course of the fourteenth 
and fifteenth centuries, modern states arising. They were the 
creation, in the main, of the monarchs of the time, who were 
aided by favoring circumstances. The new governments were 
supported by a strong national spirit, and had large powers 
and separate departments of administration. They were 
strengthened by a body of well-ordered law, and they controlled 
their resources of men and money more adequately than did 
the feudal governments. This rise of modern states was, in- 
deed, as characteristic a feature of the new time as the power of 
Empire and Papacy had been of the old. 

B. France and Burgundy 

France was one of the first countries to develop the powers of 
the modern state. The earlier steps in the strengthening of the 



FRANCE AND BURGUNDY 



263 




292. France 
under 
Charles VII 



royal power in that country have been described in the chapter 
on the Growth of France. We have also seen how, in the clos- 
ing stage of the Hun 
dred Years' War 
Charles VII was en 
abled to increase the king's 
power by establishing a per- 
manent tax and a standing 
army. With an armed force 
at his unrestricted com- 
mand, and a tax whose 
amount he could increase 
at pleasure, the king needed 
no longer to consult the Es- 
tates-General, except when 
he chose. When the war 
with England was at an end, 
Charles was thus able to 
apply himself with success 
to the task of ending the 
disorder in the land, and of 
strengthening still further 
the central government. 

The work of building 
upon the foundations thus 
laid was left to Charles's 
son and successor, Louis XL In appearance this prince work 

was ugly and unkingly ; in character he was unscrupulous of Louis XI 
and fond of cunning intrigue. He lived economically ^^'^ ^"^"^ ^^ 
and cared nothing for display. He could not find the money 
to buy himself a new hat to replace the old felt one that 
he wore, but he spent a great sum to buy back certain border 
towns for France. Many of his acts were those of a cynical 
tyrant. He did a great work, however, in weakening the 
power of the higher nobles, and in making impossible any 
tyranny but that of the king. 



Louis XI 

His hat is banded with small lead images of 
saints from pilgrim shrines. 



264 EUROPEAN STATES IN LATER MIDDLE AGES 



^^^^^^^^^ 



The chief task of Louis XI was to restore the royal domain, 
which had largely been granted away to princes of the royal 
294. Lands house. His most formidable opponent was the duke 
of Bur- " ^ of Burgundy. This prince possessed the duchy of Bur- 
gundy gundy in eastern France and the neighboring county of 
the same name in the Empire, — also called Franche Comte 

(fraNsh-koN-ta'), the 
"free county. 



Flan- 
ders and Artois (ar- 
twa') in northern 
France were also in 
his hands, as well as 
a number of fiefs of 
the Empire about the 
mouth of the river 
Rhine, styled collec- 
tively the Nether- 
lands, or " Low Coun- 
tries" (see map, p. 
258). The extent and 
richness of these pos- 
sessions made the duke 
of Burgundy in many 
crises more powerful 
than the French king 
himself. Throughout 
the first ten years of 
Louis XI's reign the king struggled desperately with the great 
nobles, headed by the Burgundian duke, Charles the Bold. 
Several times Louis's power seemed crushed ; but in the end 
his cunning diplomacy, and some fortunate circumstances, en- 
abled him to triumph. 

The circumstance which chiefly contributed to this end was 
295. Charles the withdrawal of Charles the Bold from French affairs to 
overthrown carry out plans in the Empire. Charles made a brilliant 
(1477) figure in contrast to the shabbiness of Louis XI, but he 




Mary of Burgundy 
From the painting by R. van Bruges 



FRANC R AND BURGUNDY 



^65 



lacked Louis's practical shrewdness. He wished to consohdate 
his scattered possessions into a single territory, and to obtain 
from the Emperor the title of king over them. His purpose, in 
effect, was to restore the old kingdom of Lotharingia, as a buffer 
state between France and Germany. Unfortunately for Charles, 
his project brought him into conflict with the sturdy mountain- 
eers and townsmen of Switzerland. Twice in 1476 (at Gran- 
son and Morat) the Swiss halberdiers and pikemen defeated 
the mailed horsemen of Burgundy. Burning to avenge these 
humiliations, Charles then undertook a winter campaign, 
and in the battle of Nancy (in Lorraine, 1477), his forces were 
again defeated. This time he himself was slain, and his body 
was found stark and frozen in the marsh into which it had been 
thrown. Once more the 
lesson was enforced, as at 
Courtrai and Crecy, that 
foot soldiers properly 
armed and handled were 
more than a match for 
feudal cavalry. 

Charles left as sole heir 
to his numerous territories 
his daughter Mary, who 
was soon married to Max- 
imilian of Austria (§ 302). 
It was not to be expected 
that Louis XI would per- 
mit the opportunity offered 
by Charles's death to pass 
unused. He seized the 
duchy of Burgundy and other possessions of the late duke — 
some on the justifiable ground that they could pass only to 
male heirs, and others on less defensible pretexts. In other 
directions also Louis XI rounded out the royal domain, 296. Divi- 
until it became almost as extensive as France itself. Burgun^ai, 
The only great feudal territories left outstanding at Louis's lands 




Maximilian or Austria 
From an old print 



266 EUROPEAN STATES IN LATER MIDDLE AGES 

death, in 1483, were Brittany and Flanders. Brittany was 
finally acquired by the crown through marriage, early in the 
sixteenth century. Flanders, however, had long been drifting 
away from France, and in 1526 it was surrendered to the Em- 
pire — to be largely reconquered, however, in the next century. 
Charles VIII (1483-1498), son of Louis XI, was thirteen 
years old when his father's death made him king. During his 
297. Italian i^inority the government was ably administered by his 
war of older sister Anne, whom her father had cynically styled 

"the least foolish woman in the world." After coming of 
age Charles, in 1494, led an army into Italy. His purpose was 
to enforce claims to the kingdom of Naples which he had in- 
herited from that French house which Charles of Anjou had 
founded in 1265 (§ 137). The weakness of the mutually hostile 
Italian states was strikingly revealed by this expedition. It 
was almost a triumphal procession, and Naples fell with scarcely 
a blow. But soon Charles was called back by news of a formi- 
dable league formed in his rear by the chief states of Italy 
(including the Pope) together with the king of Aragon (ar'a-gon) 
and the Emperor. Before Charles's death (1498) Naples was 
again lost by France, and it soon passed into the hands of 
Ferdinand of Aragon, who already ruled Sicily. In spite of the 
failure of France to retain hold of the kingdom of Naples, the 
expedition of Charles VIII was of great importance. It 'marked 
the end of the period of national isolation in European rela- 
tions, and introduced a period'of international leagues and war- 
fare. More especially it marked the beginning of a conflict 
between France and Spain for the control of Italy which lasted 
until 1559; and this, as we shall see, profoundly affected the 
fortunes of the German Reformation. 

C. Germany after the Interregnum 

The Great Interregnum in Germany, which followed the 
overthrow of the Hohenstaufen house (§ 138), was ended in 
1273 by the election of a petty Swabian count, Rudolph of 



GERMANY AFTER THE INTERREGNUM 



267 



Hapsburg/ to the German kingship. For three quarters of 
a century longer, however, the history of Germany presents 
a confused and uninteresting story. Rudolph wisely re- 298. Rise 
frained from attempting to exercise power over Italy or to of the Haps- 
gain the imperial title. " Italy," said he, alluding to a well- ^""'^ ^°"^® 
known fable, "is the 
den of the lion. I see 
many tracks leading 
into it, but none com- 
ing out again." The 
wise policy which he 
inaugurated was fol- 
lowed by most of his 
immediate successors. 
The main interest ' of 
this period consists in 
the gradual acquisi- 
tion, by the Hapsburg 
family, of a territorial 
power on the eastern 

borders of Germany. The beginning of this development 
was made by Rudolph, who used his position as king to gain 
for his family the duchies of Austria and Styria. About half 
a century later two duchies which border Styria on the south 
and west were added. Soon after this the gap" which separated 
these eastern possessions of the house from their original 
Swabian lands was partly bridged by the acquisition of the Tyrol, 
as the region of the eastern Alps is called (see map, p. 259). 
In spite of the fact that the Hapsburgs for a time lost their 
hold on the German kingship, they succeeded in building up 
a group of estates which made them, at the beginning of the 
religious Reformation in Germany, the strongest territorial 
power in that land. 

1 The name of this important family is derived from their castle of Hapsburg 
(earher Habichtsburg, "hawk's castle "). It was built about 1020 on the river Aar, 
not far from its junction with the Rhine (see map, p. 258). 




Castle Hapsburg. From an old print 



268 EUROPEAN STATES IN LATER MIDDLE AGES 

In this confused period the rulers of Germany were chosen 
now from one and now from another house. The great nobles, 
in their selfish desire to maintain their independent rights, 
from differ- sought for weakness rather than strength in the men 
ent houses -^hom they elected. Now a Hapsburg was chosen, now 
a member of the ducal house of Bavaria, now a member of 
the house of Luxemburg. Like the Hapsburg house, the counts 
of Luxemburg had reached out from their petty seat in west- 
ern Germany, and had built up a strong power in the east by 
acquiring the Slavic kingdom of Bohemia. 

In 1347 Charles IV, the head of the latter house, succeeded 
in gaining possession of the German throne. He proved one 
300. Charles of the greatest rulers of Europe in the fourteenth 
G iden ^ century. His policy was to build up Bohemia by the 
Bull (i3S6) promotion of commerce and the founding of the Univer- 
sity of Prague; and so successful was he that for a time Prague 
became almost the capital of Europe. His neglect of Germany, 
and his persistent refusal to be drawn into Italian politics, 
caused one of his successors to say of him that he "was the father 
of Bohemia, but the stepfather of the Empire." 

The most important single act of Charles IV was his issuing 
in 1356 of the famous Golden Bull, by which the constitution 
of the Empire was defined. The right to choose the king of 
Germany (the future Emperor), as we have seen (§ 118), was 
originally vested in all freemen. But it had gradually been 
restricted until by the end of the thirteenth century the idea 
became fixed that there should be just seven persons, constituting 
an electoral college, who possessed the right to elect. Two of 
these votes, however, were in dispute. In the Golden Bull 
the seven electoral votes were definitely decided to belong 
to the three great Rhineland archbishops of Mainz, Cologne, 
and Treves, and to four secular princes, the king of Bohemia, 
the count palatine of the Rhine, the duke of Saxony, and the 
margrave of Brandenburg (see map, p. 259). To prevent, future 
disputes, the territories of these secular princes were made in- 
divisible, with succession to males only. The right of coining 



GERMANY AFTER THE INTERREGNUM 



269 



money and of trying cases without appeal was given to the elec- 
tors, who were placed above all other German princes. This 
arrangement, while it prevented the recurrence of disputed 
elections, made the constitution of Germany for centuries, a 




Town Hall of the Free Imperial City of Frankfort 

A group of separate houses built largely in the fifteenth century, and since re- 
modeled. Here the imperial elections were held in the sixteenth century. 

federation of almost sovereign states instead of a consolidated 
monarchy. It was a step directly opposite to those which ^ . ^^^^^^ 
elsewhere were being taken in the creation of modern Empire, 250 
states. The English historian Bryce says of Charles IV's ^'"''''''^ ^"^-^ 
work that " he legalized anarchy, and called it a constitution." 

Members of the Luxemburg house occupied the imperial 
throne for sixty years after the death of Charles IV, the last 
ruler of this house being the Emperor Sigismund (1410- 
1437). In the person of Albert II the Hapsburg line burg line 
was then restored, and retained possession of the throne restored 
continuously for the next three centuries. 

Frederick III (1440- 1493), cousin of Albert, was the last 



270 EUROPEAN STATES IN LATER MIDDLE AGES 




Emperor to be crowned at Rome. The weakness of the im- 
perial power did not permit him to take an active part in the 

302. Growth affairs of Europe ; indeed, for 

burg^power twenty-five years he remained 

(1440-15 19) secluded on his hereditary es- 
tates, without even visiting other 
parts of Germany. Nevertheless^ 
his long reign and patient persist- 
ence greatly increased the power of 
his house, by reuniting its divided 
fragments. A notable achievement 
was a treaty which laid a basis for 
the later acquisition by his descend- 
ants of the great Magyar kingdom 
of Hungary.^ 

The marriage of Frederick's son 
Maximilian (Emperor from 1493 to 
1 5 19) with Mary of Burgundy has already been mentioned 
(§ 296). By this step a large part of the lands of Charles 
the Bold was added to the Hapsburg inheritance. A begin- 
ning was thus made of renewed growth of that power in western 
Europe. In a later section will be described a further marriage 
which brought Spain also, with its vast dependencies in the Old 
and in the New World, into Hapsburg hands (§ 314). Maxi- 
milian's reign is thus a special illustration of the saying that, 
while other states grew by wars, the Hapsburg family throve 
through fortunate marriages. 

In concluding this sketch of Germany, some account must 
be given of the rise of the Swiss Confederation. Many of the 

303. The stories told concerning the Swiss (such as the one of which 
federation' William Tell is the hero) have been proved by scholars 
(1291-1499) to be mere myths. The authentic history of that land, 



Imperial Arms after 
Sigismund's Reign 

From iron work in the State 
Museum at Frankfort 



1 The five vowels "A. E. I. O. U." appeared inscribed on all the buildings and 
possessions of Frederick III. These initials are interpreted to mean, Austria est 
imperare orbi universo (in German, Alles Erdreich ist Oesterreich unterthan) , — that 
is, "the whole world is subject to Austria." 



GERMANY AFTER THE INTERREGNUM 



271 



however, is highly interesting. In the mountainous region 
lying between the rivers Rhine and Aar, much of the old Ger- 
manic spirit of freedom had been preserved. Consequently 
when the neighboring Hapsburg counts attempted, in the thir- 
teenth century, to extend their feudal jurisdiction over these 
independent communities, resistance followed. The union in 




Growth of the Swiss Confederation 

1 291 of the three "forest cantons" (Uri, Schwyz, and Unter- 
walden) in a "Perpetual League," was the beginning of the 
Swiss Confederation. The first test of its strength came in 
13 1 5. In that year the Hapsburg count sent a great force of 
armored knights to attack the confederates, who — armed 
with lances made by tying their scythes to their alpenstocks — 
were stationed among the hills of Mor'garten. As the enemy 
toiled up the steep slope, they were met by avalanches of stones 
and tree trunks ; and when they arrived at the summit they 
were scattered by a well-directed charge. Subsequent vic- 
tories, such as that won at Sempach (zem'paK) in 1386, con- 



272 EUROPEAN STATES IN LATER MIDDLE AGES 

firmed the Swiss claim to freedom from feudal control. These 
exploits, taken with the great victories won over Charles the 
Bold (§ 295), had the effect of making the Swiss pikemen the 
most renowned and most sought after soldiers in Europe. 

Success in the field brought increased membership to the con- 
federation. By 1513 it numbered thirteen cantons, including 
the flourishing Swiss cities of Zurich (zoo'rik), Lucerne (lii- 
stirn'), and Bern (bern). At first the cantons had been 
content to reject all dependence on feudal lords, offering 
allegiance to the Emperor alone. But when the Emperor Maxi- 
milian, towards the close of the fifteenth century, sought to 
bring the Swiss under the jurisdiction of the imperial courts, 
a brief war followed, in which the Swiss were again successful. 
As a result, after 1499 the dependence of the Swiss on the Empire 
practically ceased. The formal recognition of their independ- 
ence, however, was not granted until 1-648 (§ 434). In the 
separation of Switzerland from the Empire we may see a further 
mark of that territorial decay to which unhappy Germany was 
subject. 

D. England after the Black Death. 

In England the measures adopted by William the Conqueror 
(§ 80) had prevented feudalism from becoming the disinte- 
Com- gr^ti^g force that it proved to be on the Continent ; and 
parison with the reforms of Henry II (§§ 231-233) began the process 
France ^£ strengthening the monarchy. In part it is the contin- 

ued growth of the monarchy that we have here to trace. One 
point of difference between the. results attained in France and 
in England, however, should be noted. In France the over- 
throw of the feudal nobility was achieved largely through 
the king's obtaining a permanent army and a permanent rev- 
enue, which made the further calling of Estates-General a mat- 
ter of choice with him. When the power of feudalism was over- 
thrown the king of France thus became an absolute monarch, 
for there was left no power in the state strong enough to check 
his will. In England, on the other hand, the crown did not 



ENGLAND AFTER THE BLACK DEATH 273 

secure either a permanent army or a permanent revenue ; hence 
the king was obliged to have constant recourse to Parliament for 
taxes with which to wage war and to carry on the government. 
It was not so much the crown, therefore, that profited by the 
overthrow of the feudal nobles as it was the English nation 
itself, through the strengthening of Parliament. 

The Black Death in England contributed to a reorganiza- 
tion of medieval society. This in turn helped on the growth of 
the powers of the state, and also the part played by the „~. 

people in the government. Before the Black Death, there of the Black 
were in England about four or five millions of inhabitants. ^^^^ 
When that pestilence had passed away, there were only about 
half this number, and it was long before the number of inhabit- 
ants again rose as high as three millions. Field laborers had 
become scarce, and those who were left demanded greatly in- 
creased wages. Many villeins left the estates of their masters 
and fled to the towns, or found places elsewhere where their 
lot was easier. Parliament passed laws to keep wages and prices 
at their former levels, but these could not be enforced. As a 
result, the old manorial system of labor and agriculture broke 
down, and a new system gradually took its place. In the new 
system the land was either rented to tenant farmers, who paid 
money for its use instead of services, or else the land was re- 
tained by the lord and put into pasture for sheep. In either 
event the number of villeins was greatly decreased. 

In the midst of this transformation came the great Peasants' 
Revolt of 1381. (i) In part the causes of the rising were eco- 
nomic. On the one hand was the impatient desire of the 306. The 
half-freed peasants to complete their emancipation ; and Revolf*^' 
on the other, the attempt of various lords (by legal tricks, (1381) 
the revival of obsolete and half-forgotten manorial rights, or 
downright violence) to reduce their peasants again to villeinage. 
(2) In part the causes were political, especially the passage 
by Parliament of a new poll tax, which bore most heavily upon 
the poor. (3) In part they were social, and were traceable to 
the teachings of revolutionists like John Ball, who preached 



274 EUROPEAN STATES IN LATER MIDDLE AGES 




John Ball and the English Rebels 

against the oppression of the poor by the rich/ and asked (in 
a verse which passed from mouth to mouth) : — 

" When Adam delved and Eve span, 
Who was then the gentleman ? " 

Under various leaders, of whom the chief was Wat Tyler 
the peasants advanced from all sides upon London. The draw- 
bridge of London Bridge was opened by the people of the city, 
and soon the capital was in the hands of the rebels. Some of the 
king's oppressive ministers were murdered, as were also a few 
lawyers and nobles, and a few buildings were burned. But 

1 The nature of Ball's teachings may be seen in the following passage from one of 
his speeches: "Ah, ye good people," he exclaimed, "matters will not go well in 
England until everything is owned in common, and there are no longer villeins nor 
gentleman, but all are united together. Now, the lords are clothed in velvet and 
furs, while we are clothed with poor" cloth. They have wines, spices, and good 
bread, while we live upon chaS and drink water. They dwell in fine houses, 
while we have pain and labor, wind and rain, in the fields. And when the produce 
is raised by our labors, they take it, and consume it ; and we are called their bond- 
men, and unless we serve them readily we are beaten." 



ENGLAND AFTER THE BLACK DEATH 



27s 



compared with the excesses committed by the French peasants 
(§ 277) the conduct of the EngHsh peasants was moderate and 
restrained. The de- 
mands of the peasants 
were chiefly for the 
aboHtion of serfdom 
and servile labor, and 
the fixing of a fair 
money rent for their 
holdings. For a time 
the government gave 
way and granted these 
demands. Then Wat 
Tyler was treacher- 
ously murdered in a 
conference ; and his 
followers were per- 
suaded to return home, 
under written guaran- 
tees from the king that 
the promises made 
should be observed," 
and that they should 

have a free pardon for their rebellion. When once their forces 
had dispersed, these concessions were revoked, and the leaders 
of the revolt were hunted down and put to death. ^ 




London Bridge in the Sixteenth Century 

Note the houses on the bridge, and the traitors' 
heads above the gate 



' According to one account the young king, Richard II, showed great courage 
and resourcefulness in this crisis. When he rode out to meet the rebels he said : "I 
am your king and lord, good people; what will you?" "We will that you free us 
forever," shouted the peasants in reply, "us and our lands, and that we be never 
named or held for serfs." " I grant it," replied Richard ; and he bade them go home, 
pledging himself at once to issue charters of freedom and amnesty; At the meeting 
next day, when Wat Tyler was slain, Richard acted with even greater boldness. 
While the enraged peasants shouted, "Kill, kill, they have slain our captain!" Rich- 
ard rode boldly forward and cried : "What need ye, my masters? I am your cap- 
tain and your king. Follow me ! " Thus, it is said, he persuaded them to disperse. 
Recent historians throw serious doubts on the accuracy of this story. See Ameri- 
can Historical Review, VII, 254-285, 458-484. 



276 



EUROPEAN STATES IN LATER MIDDLE AGES 



In spite of this base withdrawal of solemn pledges, the days 
of villeinage were numbered. Landlords found that unwilling 
service was unprofitable under the new conditions, and within 
a hundred years after the Peasants' Revolt, villeinage in Eng- 
land had practically ceased to exist. 

The teachings of a great English philosopher and church- 
307. Teach- man named John Wyc'lif were one cause of the 
Jo1m° Peasants' Revolt. He was a professor in the Univer- 

Wyclif sity of Oxford, and students from all over Europe at- 

tended his lectures. The ' evils in the church early at- 
tracted his attention, and he preached and wrote against the 

luxury and worldliness of 
the clergy, which he con- 
trasted with the poverty 
of Christ and the Apos- 
tles. When the Pope 
laid claim in 1365 to the 
tribute which King John 
had promised (§ 236), 
and which for some years 
had been withheld, Wyc- 
lif 'wrote a treatise show- 
ing a number of reasons 
why this should not be 
paid. He followed this 
by attacking all temporal 
lordship exercised by the 
church. He proclaimed 
the doctrine that lord- 
ship and property were 
granted to their holders 
by God, and could be enjoyed only so long as their holders were 
in a "state of grace" and exercised their powers justly. This 
teaching seemed to justify rebellion against unjust rulers. 
Others of his writings seemed to teach communism, — that is, 
that all property should be held in common. 




John Wyclif. From an old print 



ENGLAND AFTER THE BLACK DEATH 277 

After the Peasants' Revolt, Wyclif lost the support of the 
great nobles, who had upheld him when he merely attacked the 
wealthy clergy. Towards the close of his life Wyclif rejected 
the doctrine of transubstantiation (§ 87), which, as we have 
seen, was one of the most cherished beliefs of the church. To 
spread his ideas he organized a body of followers called "poor 
priests," who preached among the common people. He also 
caused the Bible to be translated from the Latin version of the 
church into the language of the people. By this step, and by 
his writing and preaching in the popular tongue, he did much to 
aid the rise of the English language as a means of literary expres- 
sion. In 1382 he was condemned for heresy and was obliged 
to retire from Oxford. But circumstances did not permit of 
further steps being taken against him, and he died peacefully 
two years later. The importance of Wyclif's teaching outlived 
his own time and the circumstances which called it forth. He 
was the greatest of the "reformers before the Reformation," and 
the movement which he started, both in England and in 
Bohemia (whither it was transplanted), lasted in some sort down 
to the days of Luther. 

When Edward III died, in 1377, he was succeeded by his 
grandson, Richard II (1377-1399), son of the Black Prince. It 
was the dissensions which filled the minority of this king, g ugpo- 
together with further troubles which arose after he became sition of 
of age, that prevented England from profiting by the weak- ^^ ^^ 
ness of France in the period following the death of Charles V 
(§ 281). In 1397-1398 matters in England reached a crisis. 
At that time Richard suddenly brought charges against his chief 
opponents, and caused them to be banished or put to death. He 
then surrounded Parliament with archers, and compelled it to 
grant him a tax to be collected as long as he should live, and 
other powers such as no English kings had ever possessed. As 
a result of these despotic acts Richard's cousin, Henry of Lan- 
caster, whom he had unjustly banished and deprived of his es- 
tates, returned to England in 1399, and put himself at the head 
of a widespread rebellion. This succeeded so well that Richard 



278 EUROPEAN STATES IN LATER MIDDLE AGES 

II, the last of the Plantagenet kings, was deposed by Parliament, 
On the vacant throne was seated his cousin Henry IV, the first 
of the Lancastrian house.^ 

The powers of Parliament had already greatly increased, ow- 
ing to the fact that Edward III had been obliged to call it to- 
309. The gether frequently to obtain grants of money for his war 
powers of with France. Under the Lancastrian kings its authority 
grew to yet greater heights. Among the important con- 
stitutional principles which we find established in this period 
are the following: (i) All taxes must be granted by Parliament. 
(2) Parliament has the right to inquire into the administration 
of the government, and the grievances which it reports must be 
redressed before it will grant taxes. (3) The " Good Parliament " 
of 1376 established its right to punish by impeachment royal 
officers who were guilty of misgovernment. (4) The deposition 
of Richard II by Parliament strengthened its claim to superior- 
ity over the crown. (5) The fact that Henry IV and his immedi- 
ate successors owed their title to the throne to Parliament led 
them frankly to recognize its powers and to appoint and dismiss 
ministers in accordance with its wishes. (6) Freedom of speech 
and freedom from arrest during the sessions of Parliament be- 
came recognized privileges of its members. (7) Finally, under 
Henry VI (grandson of Henry IV), Parliament abandoned the 
practice of ^^.s^mg petitions in which the king was asked to make 
the laws it desired, — the details being left to the king and his 

1 The poet Shakespeare makes Richard II speak these pathetic words upon his 
deposition: — 

" What must the king do now ? Must he submit ? 
The king shall do it. Must he be deposed ? 
The king shall be contented : Must he lose 
The name of king? In God's name, let it go: 
I'll give my jewels for a set of beads. 
My gorgeous palace for a hermitage, 
My gay apparel for an alms-man's gown. 
My figured goblets for a dish of wood. 
My scepter for a palmer's walking-staff. 
My subjects for a pair of carved saints. 
And my large kingdom for a Uttle grave." 

— Richard II, Act iii, scene 2 



ENGLAND AFTER THE BLACK DEATH 



279 



council. Instead, it began to pass bills, or complete drafts of 
laws, which could not be changed by the king in any particular, 
without referring them back to Parliament. 

Thus, while the powers of the state in England were steadily 
increased, the exercise of these powers came more and more 
to be under the control of Parliament. And in this body the 
more important chamber was that of the Commons, which 
was composed of elected representatives of the people. 

The constitutional development which we have been tracing 
was interrupted and its results partly destroyed by a series 
of civil wars for the throne in the second half of the fifteenth 310. Wars 
century. These struggles are known as the Wars of the ^ g ^ 
Roses, from the red rose which was taken as the badge of the (1455-1485) 
house of Lancaster, and the white rose worn by the house of 
York. To understand the contest you will need to study the 
genealogical table below, and see how each of the two houses 
was descended from Edward III.^ 

Henry VI (1422-1461), the head of the Lancastrian house, 
represented the third line of descent ; while Richard of York, 
who claimed the throne against him, was descended, through 
his mother, from Edward's second son Lionel, as well as from 



I THE HOUSES OF LANCASTER AND YORK 
(i) Edward III (1327-1377) 



Edward 
the Black Prince 

(d. 1376) 



(2) Richard II (1377-1399) 
(deposed) 



Lionel 
Philippa 



John of Gaunt 

Duke of 
LANCASTER 



(3) Henry IV (1399-1413) 
I 

(4) Henry V (1413-1422) 
Roger I 

Earl of March (5) Henry VI (1422-1461) 
(deposed) 



Anne= 



Richard, Duke of York 



Edmund, Duke 
of YORK 



= Richard 



(6) Edward IV 
(1461-1483) 

(7) Edward V 
(1483) 



(8) Richard III 

(1483-1485) 



28o EUROPEAN STATES IN LATER MIDDLE AGES 

the fourth son through his father. If strict rules of hereditary 
succession were regarded, Richard of York had a better right to 
the throne than Henry VI. But the claims of the line of Lionel 
had been passed over in 1399, and had since been disregarded. 
It was only the miserable failure of the French war, and the 
misgovernment at home under the incompetent and at times 
insane Henry VI, that enabled the Yorkists to win any atten- 
tion for their claims. 

Into the details of these wars we cannot go. The contest was 
one of the bloodiest and most merciless in English history; 
for it was largely a selfish struggle for power between the great 
nobles. The strength of the Lancastrians lay chiefly in the 
feudal north of England. The Yorkists were more powerful in 
the south, where the middle classes were more in evidence. 
Richard of York was slain in battle, but his strong and able 
son, Edward IV (1461-1483), secured the throne. The poor in- 
sane Henry VI was shut up in the Tower of London, and was 
subsequently murdered. Edward IV maintained himself, 
with some variations of fortune, until his death in 1483. His 
young son Edward V was soon deposed and murdered by his 
uncle Richard III, whom Shakespeare depicts as a monster of 
cunning and cruelty. Finally Richard was himself overthrown 
in the battle of Bosworth Field (1485) and the throne passed 
to Henry VII, the first of the Tudor sovereigns. This king was 
remotely descended from the Lancastrian house. By his 
marriage with Elizabeth of York, the daughter of Edward IV, 
he united to the claims of Lancaster those also of the house of 
York. 

In the Wars of the Roses, through deaths in battle and on 

the scaffold, the old nobility was almost destroyed. The 

311. The English nation, wearied with years of disorder, allowed 

ardi7"'^r' H^nry VII (1485-1509) and his son Henry VIII to make 

the Tudors themselves almost absolute in power. It was only under a 

strong monarchy that the people could hope to be freed from 

feudal anarchy. Parliament in this struggle had become the mere 

tool of contending factions. Under the " New Monarchy " it 



THE RISE OF SPAIN 28 1 

was not allowed to regain its independent authority. It became 
the servile instrument of the Tudor sovereigns, meeting from 
time to time to pass the measures proposed to it by the king 
and his ministers. The decline of the nobles had deprived 
Parliament of its natural leaders, and the townsmen and country 
gentlemen were still too weak to challenge the power of these 
strong and arbitrary kings. But the power of the crown was 
used to put down disorder and enforce law, and England pros- 
pered as it had never prospered before. Also, the fact that 
Parliament was allowed to continue to meet and go through 
the form of voting taxes and passing laws kept alive the tradi- 
tions of liberty and parliamentary power. It thus became easy, 
when more favorable times arrived, to revive that power, and 
to increase it to a point hitherto undreamed of. 

E. The Rise of Spain 

The development of Spain in the later Middle Ages was little 
short of marvelous. During the Middle Ages its history lies 
outside the general history of western Europe, its chief q^^_ 

features being : (i) the gradual decay of the Moham- solidation 
medan power which had been established in that peninsula ° ^^^^ 
since 711 ; and (2) the rise of the Christian states of Castile 
and Leon, Aragon, Portugal, and Navarre (na-var'). By the 
year 11 50 Christian conquests had been pushed south to the 
Tagus River. In 1266 the Moors were driven into their last 
stronghold, the kingdom of Granada (gra-na'da) , where they re- 
mained in comparative peace for more than two centuries longer. 
Continuous warfare with the infidel, together with the geographi- 
cal environment of Spain, made the Spaniards proud, brave, in- 
tensely devoted to the Christian faith, and indisposed to manual 
labor and industry. In 1469 the marriage of Ferdinand of 
Aragon and Isabella of Castile laid the basis of the permanent 
union of these two countries under a single head. Then, in 
1492, Granada was taken, and the long crusade against the 
Mohammedans was brought to an end. 



282 EUROPEAN STATES IN LATER MIDDLE AGES 



Portugal remained an independent country ; and early in the 

fifteenth century it took the lead in Atlantic discovery and in 

313. Ex- the search for an ocean route to India. The exertions of 

^^°d^d"s"^ Prince Henry the Navigator (died 1460) led to the discovery 

coveries of a number of outlying islands in the eastern Atlantic, 

and to the exploration of the African coast as far south as Cape 

Verde. In i486 the Portuguese navigator Bartholomew Diaz 




Spanish States, 1266-1492 

(de'as) reached the Cape of Good Hope. In 1498 Vasco da 
Gama (ga'ma) completed the work by reaching India. Seeking 
to anticipate this result, Queen Isabella of Castile, in 1492, con- 
sented to fit out the expedition with which Columbus discov- 
ered the New World. To both Spain and Portugal the result of 
these efforts was the acquisition of vast colonial dependencies, 
and a flood of wealth. 

In Europe, meanwhile, a series of wars, shrewd diplomatic 
negotiations, and notable marriages raised the kingdom of 
Spain to a height which made its sovereign the most powerful 



THE RISE OF SPAIN 283 

prince in the world. Sicily had been annexed to Aragon since 
1409. The failure of the French kings to maintain their hold on 
Naples (§ 297) gave Spain that kingdom also (confirmed g j^ 

by treaty in 1504). This made Spain the ruling power and the 
in Italy. We have already seen (§ 302) how the ^^^ "^^^ 
marriage of Maximihan of Austria with Mary of Burgundy 
united the. Hapsburg possessions in Germany with the greater 
part of the territories over which Charles the Bold had ruled. 
A new marriage, that of the son of Maximilian and Mary with 
the daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella, now insured that the 
Hapsburg and Burgundian lands should be joined with Spain, 
Sicily, Italy, and the New World, in the hands of a single 
prince, the future Emperor Charles V.^ It was one of the 
most amazing political developments that the world had ever 
seen. 

But though Spain by the year 1500 was strong in its inter- 
national position, internally it was weak. It was thinly popu- 
lated, and trade and industry were little developed. The 315- Inter- 
Jews and Moors, who were the most industrious classes ^^^^ ^f 
in Spain, were cruelly oppressed. The wealth which Spain 
flowed from America and the Indies proved a curse rather than a 
blessing, for it discouraged honest industry and stimulated the 
search for treasure. Castile and Aragon were only loosely united, 
and the power of the crown in each was weak. The addition 



(i) Maximilian I 
(Emperor 
1493-1519) 



1 GENEALOGY OF CHARLES V 

= Mary (d. 1482) JFekdinand: 



daughter of (King of Aragon (Queen of Castile 

Charles the Bold 1479-1516) 1474- 1504) 

of Burgundy | 

^, ... T Catherine 

, Ph'liP. . . Ju^'i^ m. HenrvVIII 

Archduke of Austria 



: Isabella 



(d. 1506) 



the Insane ^j England 

(d. I5SS) 



(2) Chakles V = Isabella of Portugal (3) Ferdinand I = Anne of Bohemia 

(Emperor I (Emperor and Hungary 

1519-1556; 1556-1564) 
d. 1558) I 

Philip II (4) Maximilian II 

(King of Spain (Emperor 

1556-1598) 1564-1576) 

i ■ i 

Spanish Hapsburgs Austrian Hapsbuigs 



284 EUROPEAN STATES IN LATER MIDDLE AGES 

of representatives of the Third Estate to their Parliaments 
(called Cor'tes) had taken place earlier in these countries than 
elsewhere, dating in Aragon from 1133 and in Castile from 1166. 
But the disunion of the nobles and the people prevented the 
growth of these assemblies into national institutions. In spite 
of many reforms made by Ferdinand and Isabella, the powers 
of the government in Spain remained undeveloped. It was 
not until the reigns of Charles V and his son Philip II that a 
modern state was created in Spain, and the power of the crown 
became absolute. 

F. Fall of the Eastern Empire 

While in western Europe the governments of the several 
countries (except Germany and Italy) were being strengthened 
316. Rise and consolidated, the Eastern Empire was tottering to 
° ^ ' its fall. For more than a century before its final over- 
Turks throw, it steadily lost ground. This was due to the ap- 
pearance of a new enemy from the wilds of central Asia, — the 
Ottoman Turks. The newcomers were even more fierce and 
barbarous than their predecessors, the Seljukian Turks. Like 
the latter they had embraced Mohammedanism, and they 
were now the dominant force in the Mohammedan world. In 
1357 they crossed the Hellespont and gained their first footing 
in Europe, in a little city whose walls had been thrown down by 
an earthquake (§ 173). Within three years came the conquest 
of Adrianople, and soon the horse-tail standards of the Turks 
were advanced to the Danube. The strong walls of Constan- 
tinople long withstood them, though the Eastern Emperors 
were forced to pay tribute. In another way also the Christian 
populations contributed to their own subjugation ; for each year 
the Turks demanded a fixed number of children, who were 
educated by them in the Mohammedan faith, and trained to 
fight as their famous "new troops," or Jan'izaries. 

The Greek Emperors made repeated attempts to gain aid 
from the West, even at the price of the submission of the Greek 



PALL OF THE EASTERN EMPIRE 



285 



Church to the Latin, but the attempts proved futile. In 1453 
Sultan Mohammed II, with an overwhelming force, began the 
last siege of Constantinople. Medieval and modern ap- 317- Fall 
pliances were used together, the Turkish cannon, con- "j^opie^ ^"' 
structed by foreign engineers, being of larger caliber than (1453) 
ever before seen. The Greek Emperor made a heroic defense, 
but his people held aloof in sullen bigotry because of new negor 
tiations for union with the Latin Church. After fifty- three days' 
siege, a final assault was ordered, and the Janizaries forced the 




Mosque of St. Sophia 

gates (May 29, 1453). The Emperor was slain after a desperate 
resistance. The city was given up to plunder, and thousands 
of its people were enslaved. The great Church of St. Sophia 
was robbed of its treasures, its frescoes and mosaics were white- 
washed over by the puritanic zeal of the Turks, and it was con- 
verted into a Mohammedan mosque. Thus the Eastern Empire, 
after surviving the Roman Empire in the West for a thousand 
years, came to an end, and Constantinople became at last the 
capital of the Turkish dominions. The Greeks and other native 
Christians maintained themselves under Turkish rule, thereby 
giving rise to the troublesome Eastern Question of later times 
(ch. xxxiv). 



286 EUROPEAN STATES IN LATER MIDDLE AGES 



IMPORTANT DATES 

1273. Great Interregnum ended in Germany. 

1291. Beginning of the Swiss Confederation. 

131 5. Battle of Morgarten. 

1356. Emperor Charles IV issues the Golden Bull. 

1381. Peasant revolt in England. 

1399. Richard II of England deposed; accession of Lancastrian house. 

1453. Fall of Constantinople. 

1455-1485. Wars of the Roses in England. 

1461. Louis XI becomes king of France. 

1477. Charles the Bold of Burgundy overthrown. 

1492. Conquest of Granada ; Columbus discovers America. 

1494. Charles VIII of France invades Italy. 

1498. Vasco da Gama reaches India by sea. 

TOPICS AND REFERENCES 

Suggestive Topics. — (i) Make a list of the differences between modern 
state organization and that of the Middle' Ages. (2) Compare the French 
monarchy at the beginning of the. reign of Charles VII with its condition at 
the end of the reign of Louis XL (3) What arguments could be advanced 
in favor of Charles the Bold's plan of erecting a monarchy between France 
and Germany ? To what extent has it since been done ? (4) Compare 
the history of Germany after the Great Interregnum with the history of 
France under the first four Capetian kings. (5) What were the good features 
of the Golden Bull ? Its bad ones ? (6) Trace the steps in the growth of 
the power of the Hapsburg house. (7) What things enabled the Swiss to 
win and maintain their independence? (8) What things prevented the 
English kings from becoming as absolute as the kings of France ? (9) Make 
a list of the economic effects of the Black Death in England. (10) Compare 
the peasants' revolt in England with the "Jacquerie" in France in 1358. 
(11) How does the work of John Wyclif foreshadow the end of the Middle 
Ages? (12) Compare the growth of Parliament in the thirteenth and 
fourteenth centuries with its growth in the fifteenth century. (13) How 
did the Wars of the Roses check the growth of Parliament? (14) Which 
was of more immediate importance to Spain, the consolidation of its power 
at home, or the discovery of the New World ? (15) Which was more impor- 
tant in the end ? (16) What were the results of the fall of Constantinople ? 

Search Topics. — (i) Charles the Bold of Burgundy. Freeman, 
Essays, First Series, " Charles the Bold" ; Lodge, Close of the Middle Ages, 
364-386 ; Adams, Growth of the French Nation. — (2) Character and 
Work of Louis XL Duruy , France, chs. xxxiv-xxxv ; Willert, Reign of 



TOPICS AND REFERENCES 287 

Lewis XI, 22-34, 284-300. — ^(3) The Golden Bull of Charles IV. 
Henderson, Short History, I, 159-162; Bryce, Holy Roman Empire, ch. xiv; 
Ogg, Source Book, 409-416. — (4) Legend of William Tell. McCrackan, 
Rise of the Swiss Republic, ch. vi; Lodge, Close of the Middle Ages, 124-125; 
Encyclopedia Britannica (nth ed.), XXVI, 574-576. — (5) Effects of the 
Black Death in England. Cheyney, Industrial and Social History, ch. v ; 
Trevelyan, England in the Age of Wyclijffe, 183-195 ; Traill, Social England, 
II, 133-146. — (6) Wyclif's Teachings and How They Spread. Green, 
Short History, 235-244; Creighton, History of the Papacy, Bk. I, ch. ii; 
Bk. II, ch. iii; Lechler, John Wycliffe and his English Precursors, ch. vi, 
sec. 2. — (7) Peasants' Revolt in England. Gardiner, Students History, 
267-269; Trevelyan, Englatid in the Age of Wycliffe, ch. vi; Green, Short 
History, 244-2$$. — (8) Wars of the Roses. Gardiner, Student's History, 
323-343 ; Green, Short History, 281-288. — (9) The Inquisition in 
Spain. Lea., The Inquisition in Spain, 1, ch.iv; 11,507-534; 111,1-35; IV, 
179-205. — (10) Conquest OF Spain FROM THE Moors. Hume, Spain,i~2,o; 
Irving, Conquest of Granada, chs. xc-xcix. — (11) Fall of Constanti- 
nople. Lodge, Close of the Middle A ges, 509-5 10 ; Oman, Byzantine Empire, 
336-350; Gibbon, Decline and Fall, ch. Ixviii. — (12) The Ottoman Turks. 
Lodge, Close of the Middle Ages, 498-500; Freeman, Ottoman Power in 
Europe, chs. iii, iv. 

General Reading. • — Lodge's Close of the Middle Ages is the best general 
sketch of this period. Kirk's Charles the Bold (3 vols.) is a brilliant ac- 
count of its subject. The Golden Bull is translated in Henderson's Docu- 
ments of the Middle Ages and in Thatcher and McNeal's Source Book for 
Medieval History. Gardiner's Houses of Lancaster and York is the best 
short book on the Wars of the Roses. The growth of Parliament may be 
traced in Montague, Elements of English Constitutional History, ch. vii, 
or Taswell-Langmead, English Constitutional History, chs. viii and ix. For 
Switzerland, see MtCrackan, Rise of the Swiss Republic, or Hugg and Stead, 
Switzerland. 



CHAPTER XV 

THE CHURCH IN THE FOURTEENTH AND FIFTEENTH 
CENTURIES 

A. The Babylonian Captivity and Great Schism 

The fourteenth and fifteenth centuries saw a great decline 

in the power and influence of the Popes. The chief events in 

318. The church history in this period were : (i) a seventy years' 

"Babylo- '"'Babylonian Captivity" of the papacy to France; 

Uy " (rv><^ ^^) ^ schism which divided the nations of western Europe in 

1377) their church allegiance for forty years ; and (3) a series of 

great church councils, which sought to wrest power from the 

hands of the Pope and to remedy a number of church abuses. 

The "Babylonian Captivity" was a result of the triumph of 
Philip IV of France over Pope Boniface VIII (§§ 263, 264). It 
lasted from 1305 to 1377, during most of which time the Popes 
resided at Avignon on the river Rhone. ^ The fact that all of 
the Popes and most of the cardinals during this period were 
Frenchmen, and under the influence of the French king, inevi- 
tably injured the papacy in other countries. When England 
entered upon its long war with France, it treated the papacy 
as a French ally. It refused the tribute which John had agreed 
to pay, and also passed statutes forbidding papal appointments 
to English benefices (Statute of Provi'sors) and appeals to papal 
courts (Statute of Praemuni're). 

1 The first four years of the Babylonian Captivity were spent in various parts of 
France. In 1309 the papacy fixed its seat at Avignon. This city was not then in- 
cluded within the limits of France, but was a fief of the Empire. It was held in 
1309 by the son of that French prince, Charles of Anjou, who had secured the throne 
of Sicily (§ X37). Avignon was purchased by the papacy in 1348. It was not 
formally annexed to France until 1791. 

288 



BABYLONIAN CAPTIVITY AND GREAT SCHISM 



289 



In Germany a similar conflict with the papacy arose. The 
resistance there was notable on account of the appearance of 
certain writings (by Marsiglio of Padua) which contained the 
ideas of the sovereignty of the people, and the right of nations 
to govern themselves in both church and state affairs. Later 
these ideas were to prove fruitful of momentous changes ; at 
the time, however, the papacy was able to triumph over the 
opposition in Germany and to a less degree in England also. 

But the outcry against the Pope's residence at Avignon still 
continued. There was also great danger that the long absence 




Papal Palace, Avignon 
Built 1336-1364. One of the best specimens of medieval military architecture 

of the Popes from Italy would result in a loss of the Papal States, 
through municipal revolts and the seizure of territory by Italian 
tyrants. In 1377, therefore, the Pope returned to Rome, 
where he died the following year. 

In the election which followed, the Roman mob demanded 
"a Roman Pope, or at least an Italian !" The majority 319- The 
of the cardinals were French, but their own dissensions schism 
and the fear of mob violence led them to choose a Nea- (1378-1417) 



290 



THE CHURCH IN THP] LATER MIDDLE AGES 



Arnold, 
Works of 
Wyclif, II, 
401-402 



politan, Urban VI. Within a few months, Urban's rough vio- 
lence and obstinacy led the cardinals to repent of their choice ; 
and on the ground of mob intimidation, they then tried to set 
aside this election. They chose in place of Urban a cardinal 
who took the name of Clement VII, and who set up his court 
at the former papal residence in Avignon. 

A schism in the church was thus produced which lasted for 
forty years. "All our West land," wrote the Englishman Wyc- 
lif, "is with that one Pope or that 
other, and he that is with that one, 
hateth the other with all his. Some 
say that here is the Pope in 




Pisa : Baptistery, Cathedral, and Leaning Tower 
Erected 1063-1350. The meetings of the council were held in the cathedral. 

Avignon, for he was well chosen; and some say that he is 
yonder at Rome, for he was first chosen." France and the 
Spanish kingdoms supported the Avignon Popes; Germany, 
England, and Scandinavia adhered to Urban VI and his succes- 
sors. But earnest men everywhere were shocked at the spec- 
tacle of two rival Popes, each claiming to be the representative 
of God on earth, and each denouncing the other as antichrist. 



B. The Great Church Councils 

The failure of the Popes themselves to find a way to heal the 
schism produced a revival of the idea of action through a 



THE GREAT CHURCH COUNCILS 291 

representative council of the whole western church (§ 93). But 
according to the canon law, only a Pope could summon a gen- 
eral council. The cardinals of the two Popes, however, 320. Revi- 
solved that difficulty by abandoning both Popes and ^^ r h 
uniting in the call for a council, which met at Pisa in councils 
1409. This body declared both Popes deposed, and elected 
a new one who took the name of Alexander V. 

Instead of ending the schism this course only added a third 
claimant to the papacy, for neither of the old Popes recog- 
nized the act of deposition. On the death of Alex- 321. Coun- 
ander V the cardinals chose as his successor John XXIII, a gjance °"' 
man of infamous life, but one who seemed to them to have (1414) 
the needed political vigor to make good his position. In 1413 
the capture of Rome by the king of Naples forced Pope John 
to appeal for aid to the Emperor Sigismund. The latter then 
demanded, as the price of his assistance, the summoning of a 
council on German soil, so as to be free from the Pope's control. 
The result was the important Council of Constance summoned 
by Pope John to meet on the borders of Switzerland, where it 
sat from November, 1414, to April, 1418. 

The Council of Constance was one of the most imposing as- 
semblages of the Middle Ages. ''Princes and prelates, nobles 
and theologians, from every court and every nation Creighton, 
of Europe" flocked to the little Alpine lake town. With H;'^°jy °f 

, . 11^^^ Papacy, 

them came throngs of attendants, sightseers, and ad- i, 132-134 
venturers of every sort. The number of strangers present during 
the council varied from 50,000 to 100,000. An enumeration of 
its members will show something of the pomp, magnificence, and 
importance of this assembly. The number of prelates {i.e. 
higher clergy) was : 29 cardinals, 3 patriarchs, 33 archbishops, 
about 150 bishops, and 100 abbots. In addition there were 
present 50 provosts (representatives of cathedral chapters), 300 
doctors of theology, and 1800 priests. More than 100 dukes 
and earls, and 2400 knights, are also recorded as attending, to- 
gether with 116 representatives of cities. All the states of Europe 
recognized this assembly, and it was thus enabled to succeed 



292 THE CHURCH IN THE LATER MIDDLE AGES 

where the Council of Pisa had failed. It asserted its authority 
in the most far-reaching terms. It declared that it had power 
"immediately from Christ," and that all men, "of every rank 
and dignity, even the Pope," were bound to obey it "in matters 
pertaining to (i) the faith, (2) the extirpation of the present 
schism, and (3) the general reformation of the church of God in 
head and members." 

In carrying out this threefold program, the council con- 
demned the heresies of Wyclif, and burned at the stake John 

322. John ^^^ ^^^ Jerome of Prague, who had started a movement 
Hus burned in Bohemia similar to that of Wyclif in England. Hus 

had come voluntarily to Constance under a safe-conduct 
from the Emperor Sigismund; but the violation of this was 
excused on the plea that faith should not be kept with those 
who are unfaithful to God. It is said that, as Hus was being 
degraded and the paper cap of the condemned heretic was 
placed upon his head, he looked fixedly at Sigismund, who 
blushed with shame. Both Hus and Jerome of Prague met 
their deaths with heroic constancy. The action of the council, 
instead of stamping out heresy in Bohemia, kindled a religious 
war there, in which the Hussites not merely long maintained 
themselves, but carried destruction into the heart of Germany. 
In healing the schism the council was more successful than 
in dealing with heresy. The Pope who represented the line of 

323. The Urban VI sent envoys from his refuge in northern Italy 
ScWsm ^° offer his abdication. The successor to Clement VII was 
ended deposed and left without a following. John XXIII, who 

had opened the council as its president, was confronted by a 
long list of charges against his character and life; and after 
ineffectual efforts to avoid his fate, he submitted to deposition 
as "unworthy, useless, and harmftd." Representatives from 
the five "nations" into which the council was divided were then 
added to the cardinals, and the united body chose as Pope a 
Roman cardinal who took the name of Martin V. All western 
Christendom recognized him, and the schism thus came to an 
end (141 7). 



THE GREAT CHURCH COUNCILS 293 

Of the reform question at Constance, a Catholic historian says : 
"The great majority of the assembly were of one mind as to the 
need of reform; but the members of the council were 324. xhe 
neither clear nor unanimous in their views as to the question of 
scope and nature of the reform." During the period of the 
papal residence at Avignon, and the Great Schism, the expenses 
of the papacy had greatly increased. As a result, the Pastor, His- 
Popes had resorted to numerous and ingenious methods of p^Li, i,^ 
enlarging their revenues, which often seriously limited the 202-209 
rights of the bishops. The reform movement at Constance, 
therefore, was in part an attempt of the bishops to safeguard 
their interests against the encroachments of the papacy. In 
part also it was an attempt to check worldliness, greed, igno- 
rance, and immorality among the clergy. Unfortunately for its 
success, Henry V of England had just reopened the Hundred 
Years' War with France (§ 282), and bitter national antago- 
nisms appeared in the council between French and English, 
Orleanists and Burgundians. A further obstacle to success 
was the selfishness and lack of statesmanship among the mem- 
bers of the council. This reform movement at Constance was 
the most promising of many attempts to reform the church 
from within, but it ended in almost total failure. 

One of the decrees of the Council of Constance provided 
for the regular summoning of councils in the future. As a 
result of the continued demand for reform and the rout __ Coun- 
of successive armies of crusaders sent against the heretical cil of Basel 
Bohemians, a third council was assembled in 1431 in the ^^431-1449) 
German city of Basel (ba'zel). This council sat for eighteen 
years, and laid the basis for a restoration of the Catholic faith 
in Bohemia. But it too showed little real statesmanship in 
dealing with the reform question. It was hampered by persist- 
ent conflicts with the Pope, in which the sober sense of Europe 
turned more and more against the council. 

The period of the great church councils closed with the 
Pope's supremacy over the church unshaken, and the plan of 
summoning councils at regular intervals abandoned. Never- 



294 THE CHURCH IN THE LATER MIDDLE AGES 
i 

theless, the memory of these gatherings long persisted; and 
again and again, in the time of the Protestant Reformation, 
we find the proposal made to deal with religious questions by 
holding another great council, — overriding the papacy, if neces- 
sary, to do so. 

C. Papal Decline and Local Reforms 

After the ending of the Council of Basel, the Popes were 

engaged for some years in recovering the ground lost during 

326 The these troubles. Pope Nicholas V (died 1455) sought to 

papacy after win prestige by making Rome the literary and artistic 

t e counc s f-^^p^^^i gj Europe. He planned a reconstruction of the 

city "which should to all time appeal to the imagination, and 

kindle the enthusiastic admiration of Christendom." But 

Creighton, the shock of the fall of Constantinople (§ 317) delayed 

ihePatac ^^^ execution of this work. Pope Pius II (died 1464) 

III, ISO, 161 turned his energies to stirring up a crusade against the 

victorious Turks ; but his efforts only revealed more clearly 

— as he himself once said — that Europe looked "on Pope 

and Emperor alike as names in a story or heads in a picture." 

The papacy as a political world power was as dead as the 

medieval empire. 

In these circumstances the Popes confined themselves 
more and more to looking after the interests of the Papal 
States.^ For a time they seemed to lose sight very largely of 
the spiritual side of their office. They may be described as 
Italian princes who often united to their powers as head of the 
church the political craft and perfidy and the looseness of 

iThe Popes immediately following Pius II were: Paul II (1464-1471); Sixtus 
IV (1471-1484) ; Innocent VIII (1484-1492) ; Alexander VI (1492-1503) ; Julius 
II (1503-1513); Leo X (1513-1521). Alexander VI belonged to theBorgia family, 
whose name has become a synonym for political craft and wickedness. Contem- 
poraries charged him and his son, Caesar Borgia, with poisoning their enemies ; but 
modern historians disbelieve many of these stories. Leo X belonged to the Floren- 
tine house of Medici (§ 331). He was made archbishop at the age of seven, and 
cardinal at fourteen. The story was widely believed that when he was elected Pope 
he exclaimed, "Let us enjoy the papacy, since God has given it to us." 



PAPAL DECLINE AND LOCAL REFORMS 295 

morals which then characterized the secular rulers of Italy. A 
Catholic historian quotes approvingly this characterization 
of Alexander VI (1492-1503), one of the worst of their Pastor, His- 
number: "The reign of this Pope, which lasted eleven ^p\ j^ 
years, was a serious disaster, on account of its worldliness, 130 * 
openly proclaimed with the most amazing effrontery, on account 
of its equally unconcealed nepotism [favoritism to relatives], 
lastly on account of his utter absence of all moral sense both in 
public and private life, which made every sort of accusation 
credible, and brought the papacy into utter discredit, while its 
authority seemed unimpaired." 

A local reformation in Spain, called the " Spanish Awakening," 
testifies, however, to the continued strength of the demand for 
reform. King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella worked 327- The 
hand in hand with a devoted archbishop of Toledo (Xime- A^^gning 
nes) to carry out a sweeping but thoroughly Catholic (1482-1517) 
purification of the church. The measures which they adopted 
limited the papal control over the Spanish church, and greatly 
improved the character and training of the clergy. They in- 
volved no alteration, however, in the doctrine or worship of the 
church, nor in the form of its government. The movement 
was concerned only with the freeing of the church from abuses 
by enforcing ancient rules. One of its less commendable fea- 
tures was that it was accompanied by a revival and reorgan- 
ization of the Inquisition, that powerful engine of the Middle 
Ages for crushing freedom of thought which has been described 
in a previous chapter (§ 219). 

At Florence, in Italy, a moral and religious revival was begun 
by the Dominican friar Savonaro'la, He felt deeply the wicked- 
ness of the world about him, and foretold a swift coming 328. savo- 
of God's judgment on earth. His vivid eloquence and narola at- 
commanding personality profoundly stirred the people, f^^ (/494- 
and for a time he swayed the city at his will. But un- 1498) 
happily he was led into politics. He regarded the family 
of the Medici (§ 331), who ruled over Florence, as a chief cause 
of the city's wickedness ; he therefore took a prominent part in 



296 



THE CHURCH IN THE LATER MIDDLE AGES 



a revolution which temporarily cast them out.^ He proclaimed 
that the French king Charles VIII, who at this time was over- 
running the peninsula (§ 297), was the scourge of God, to afflict 
but purify Italy. He accordingly turned Florence to alliance 

with the French. This brought 
Savonarola into conflict with Pope 
Alexander VI, whose designs for 
advancing his family were endan- 
gered by French interference in 
Italy. Savonarola persisted in 
the French alliance, and in preach- 
ing after he had been excommu- 
nicated by the Pope, and this con- 
tributed to his downfall. An' 
ordeal by fire was arranged, in 
which a hostile monk offered to 
enter the flames with one of Sa- 
vonarola's disciples to test the 
truth or falsity of Savonarola's teaching. After all arrangements 
were made, the ordeal was given up, and the people were led to 
believe that Savonarola refused the test. A political and reli- 




Savonarola 

From the portrait by Fra Bar- 
tolommeo 



1 The following extract (somewhat condensed) from a sermon delivered in 1494 
shows alike his burning eloquence, his reasons for political action, and his expecta- 
tion of a martyr's death:. "Oh, my Florence, I was in a safe haven, the life of a 
friar. By my preaching I led a few into the way of salvation. As I took pleasure 
therein, the Lord drove my bark into the open sea. Before me on the vast ocean I 
see terrible tempests brewing. Behind I have lost sight of my haven. The wind 
drives me forward, and the Lord forbids my return. On my right the elect of God 
demand my help; on my left demons and wicked men lie in ambush. I communed 
last night with the Lord, and said, 'Pity me,.Lord ; lead me back to my haven.' 'It 
is impossible ; see you not that the wind is contrary ? ' 'I will preach, if so I must ; 
but why need I meddle with the government of Florence ? ' 'If thou wouldst make 
Florence a holy city, thou must give her a government which favors virtue.' 'But, 
Lord, I am not sufficient for these things.' ' Knowest thou not that God chooses the 
weak of this world to confound the mighty? Thou art the instrument, I am the 
doer.' Then I was convinced, and cried, 'Lord, I will do Thy will ; but tell me, what 
shall be my reward ? ' ' My son, the servant is not above his master. The Jews 
made Me die on the Cross; a like lot awaits thee.' 'Yea, Lord, let me die as Thou 
didst die for me.' Then He said, 'Wait yet a while ; let that be done which must be 
done, then arm thyself with courage.' " — Creighton, History of the Papacy, IV, 253. 



TOPICS AND REFERENCES 297 

gious reaction, meanwhile, put the control of Florence in the 
hands of Savonarola's enemies. Through the use of torture 
they now obtained from him whatever confessions they wished. 
In spite of the fact that his teachings were in general harmony 
with the doctrines of the church, he was condemned as a here- 
tic, and was burned at the stake in 1498. 

In spite of the constancy with which Savonarola met his death, 
his influence practically died with him. The puritanic and 
ascetic ideals which he embodied met with little permanent savo- 

acceptance among Italians. The fact, too, that he died narola's 
under the condemnation of the church shook the faith 
even of many who had been his zealous followers. The failure of 
this movement shows the difficulty of the attempt to reform the 
church from within. The next notable attempt at church 
reform was to come from north of the Alps, and was to grow 
into a revolt which forever split the unity of the church. The 
ideas which underlay it were not the medieval ascetic ideas 
which Savonarola attempted to apply. They were the new 
ideas which we sum up in the word Renaissance, and which imply 
a whole new intellectual world, alien to the thought of men like 
Savonarola. To the origin and development of the Renaissance, 
therefore, as a preliminary to the German Reformation, we must 
turn in the next chapter. 

IMPORTANT DATES 

1377. Return of the papacy from Avignon. 

1378-1417. Great Schism in the church. 

141 5. John Hus burned as a heretic by the Council of Constance. 

1449. The Council of Basel comes to an end without reforming abuses. 

1482. The Spanish Awakening begins. 

1498. Savonarola burned as a heretic at Florence. 

TOPICS AND REFERENCES 

Suggestive Topics. — (i) How did the Babylonian Captivity weaken the 
papacy? (2) Was Urban VI or Clement VII the true Pope? Give your 
reasons. (3) Why did England and France take opposite sides in the 
Great Schism? (4) Compare the powers claimed by the Council of Con- 



298 THE CHURCH IN THE LATER MIDDLE AGES 

stance with the powers claimed for the Popes in the time of Gregory VII. 
(5) Was the council's claim constitutional or revolutionary? Was it nec- 
essary or unnecessary? (6) Why did the councils fail to reform the 
church ? (7) Compare the character and E^uropean position of the Popes 
after the councils with the character and European position of Innocent III. 
(8) Compare the aims of the Spanish Awakening with the aims of Savona- 
rola. (9) Was Savonarola a heretic in the same sense that Wyclif was? 
(10) Write a brief estimate of Savonarola in your own words. 

Search Topics. — (i) The Papacy at Avignon. Poole, Wyclif e and 
Movements for Reform, 43-60; Creighton, History of the Papacy, I, 33-58; 
Robinson, Readings in European History, 502-504. — ■ (2) The Papal 
Election of 1378. Creighton, History of the Papacy, I, 61-67. — (3) The 
Opening of the Council of Constance. Wylie, Council of Constance, 
lectures ii, iii; Creighton, History of the Papacy, I, 299-327. — (4) John 
Hus AND THE BOHEMIAN Heresy. Poolc, WycUfe and Movements for 
Reform, 151-165; Henderson, Short History of Germany, 209-220; Wylie, 
Council of Constance, lectures v, vi ; Creighton, History of the Papacy, II, 3-5 1 . 
— (5) The Council OF Basel. Foole,WycliJfe and Movements for Reform, 
170-179; Van Dyke, Age of the Renascence, ch. x. — (6) Character of 
THE Papacy at the Close of the Fifteenth Century. Symonds, Short 
History, ch. iv; Van Dyke, Age of the Renascence, chs. xii-xvi. — (7) The 
Spanish Awakening. Walker, Reformation, ch. ii ; Creighton, History cf 
the Papacy, VI, 122-127. — (8) Execution of Savonarola. Symonds, 
Short History, ch. v; Lea, Inquisition of the Middle Ages, III, 209-237; 
Creighton, History of the Papacy, Bk. V, ch. viii; Milman, Savonarola, 
Erasmus, etc.; Villari, Life and Times of Savonarola, chs. vii-xi. 

General Reading. — In addition to the general church histories (ch. v) 
Creighton's History of the Papacy from the Great Schism to the Sack of Rome 
(6 vols.) should be consulted on this period. Pastor's History of the Popes 
(6 vols.) contains a temperate and scholarly account of the Popes of the 
time from a Catholic standpoint; see also the great Catholic Encyclopedia. 
The best short books are Poole's Wyclif e and Movements for Reform, and 
Van Dyke's Age of the Renascence. 



CHAPTER XVI 

THE ITALIAN CITIES AND THE RENAISSANCE 

A. Italy in the Time of the Renaissance 

Since the overthrow of the Hohenstaufen Empire, Italy had 
become so disunited politically that a later statesman could 
speak of it as "merely a geographical expression." There Three 

was no longer any authority which even pretended to divisions of 
exercise control over the peninsula as a whole. We ^^^ 
can distinguish three different zones or divisions of the country, 
each having a distinct character. The southern half of the 
peninsula comprised the kingdom of Naples, which at the open- 
ing of the sixteenth century was united with Sicily under the 
name of the kingdom of the Two Sicilies, and was ruled by the 
Spanish king. It was monarchical in government and feudal 
in its society, though there was an active city life in Naples 
itself. The second zone was made up of the Papal States. 
In this region were numerous and active cities, over which 
the Pope's political authority was often merely nominal. The 
third zone included Tuscany and Lombardy, and was the seat 
of the vigorous and flourishing city states with which we are 
here especially concerned. 

By far the most important of all the Italian cities was the 
Tuscan city of Florence, situated on both banks of the river 
Arno. It had secured rights of self-government during 331. Rjse ©f 
the Investiture Conflict, and had then fallen into the Florence 
throes of civil discord. Its streets bristled with tafl, 
battlemented towers, the strongholds of rival clans. The 
contemporary Florentine historian Machiavelli (ma-kya-vel'le) 
says: "At first the nobles were divided against each other, 

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ITALY IN THE TIME OF THE RENAISSANCE 



301 



then the citizens against the nobles, and lastly the citizens 
against the populace ; and it of ttimes happened that when one 
of these parties got the upper hand, it split into two. And from 
these divisions there resulted so many deaths, so many banish- 
ments, so many destructions of families, as never befell in any 
other city of which we have record." The constitution of 
Florence was that of a democratic republic, but only the wealthier 
five thousand of its 100,000 inhabitants had any real power. 
By the middle of the fifteenth century, the control of the govern- 
ment was in the hands of the rich mercantile family of the Medici 
(med'e-che), of which Lorenzo the Magnificent (died 1492) 
was the most illustrious member. Without assuming the signs 
of princely rank, he governed Florence at will. His position 
has aptly been compared to that of the political "boss" of an 
American city. 

The flourishing commerce and manufactures of Florence — 
together with its banking houses, possessing branches all over 
western Europe — brought wealth and leisure to the great 
burgher families. Wealth and leisure in turn enabled the preemi- 
citizens to take an interest in learning, literature, and art, ^^^^^ 
which soon made their city the intellectual and artistic capital of 
Europe. The English writer Symonds says: "Florence was 
essentially the city of intelligence in modern times. Other 
nations have surpassed the Italians in their. genius. But Age of the 
nowhere except at Athens has the whole population ^^^ (con-^"^ 
of a city been so permeated with ideas, so highly Intel- densed) 
lectual by nature, so keen in perception, so witty and so subtle, 
as at Florence. The fine and delicate spirit of the Italians 
existed in quintessence among the Florentines. And of this 
superiority not only they, but the inhabitants of Rome and 
Lombardy and Naples, were conscious. The primacy of the 
Florentines in literature, the fine arts, law, scholarship, philoso- 
phy, and science was acknowledged throughout Italy." 

In Lombardy, as well as in the Papal States, tyrants had 
made themselves masters of various cities, together with their 
surrounding territory. These tyrants were an especial feature 



302 THE ITALIAN CITIES AND THE RENAISSANCE 

of Renaissance Italy. The fifteenth century has been called 
the age of adventurers, — when any man, by military ability, 
The cunning, and unscrupulous statecraft, might rise in 
Italian des- Italy to the position of prince. Usually this was done 
^°*^ through the formation of a military company, whose 

services were sold by its leader {condottiere) now to this and now 
to that employer, until he saw opportunity to seize a govern- 
ment for himself. The Italian tyrants were restrained in the 
pursuit of their ends by no consideration of religion or humanity. 
The most dreadful crimes were committed when they seemed 
likely to conduce to success. On the other hand, the t5^ical 
Italian despots were rarely cruel for the sake of cruelty. Their 
methods are described and justified by the contemporary 
Florentine writer Machiavelli, in his work entitled The Prince. 
In this he says that "a prudent prince neither can nor ought 
to keep his word when to keep it is harmful to him, and the 
causes which led him to pledge it are removed." The despots 
of Milan were among the most tj^ical, and also the most 
powerful, of this class of Italian rulers. 

Because the despot owed everything to his own unaided 

ability, he naturally became the patron of the scholars and the 

Vill ri artists of the Renaissance, who in their own fields repre- 

Machiaveili, sen ted the same triumph of individual talent. "The 

' ^^ museum and. the library," says a modern Italian writer, 

"were to the despot what the stable and the wine-cellar were 

to many feudal lords of the north." The courts of the despots, 

therefore, next to Florence itself, became the centers of the 

rising Renaissance movement. 

B. The Revival op Learning 

The term Renaissance means literally " rebirth." It is applied 
334, The especially to the revival of learning and art which began 
Renaissance in Italy about the year 1300, and went steadily on through- 

S. d6Cd.V of • 

medieval- o^^ the fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth centuries. 
ism At bottom it was an awakening of the human intellect to 



THE REVIVAL OF LEARNING 303 

wider fields of activity; it was a recovery of the freedom 
of individual thought and action. In the Middle Ages the 
individual was nothing ; the guild, the commune, the church, 
were everything. The world and the flesh were regarded as 
evU, and their influence was to be combated. Curiosity was 
repressed ; hence natural science, which is based on observation 
and investigation, made little progress. The learning most 
worth having was theology, which was based on divine revela- 
tion. With it flourished philosophy (the handmaid of theology) 
and law, the importance of which was due to the incessant 
conflicts of papacy and empire, of church and state. The 
English writer Symonds thus sums up the medieval atti- short History 
tude : "Beauty is a snare, pleasure a sin, the world a of the Ren- 
fleeting show, man fallen and lost, death the only certainty ; ^^ "'^^' ^ 
ignorance is acceptable to God as a proof of faith and sub- 
mission; abstinence and mortification are the only safe rules 
of life : these were the fixed ideas of the ascetic medieval 
church." 

With the fourteenth century a new way of looking at 
things began to prevail. Human life and this world were 
viewed as things good in themselves, and not merely ^j^^ 

as a means of preparing for the world to come. Men humanistic 
began to give way to the stirrings of curiosity in matters ^^^" 
hithprto neglected. A new interest was taken in ancient 
buildings and monuments. Throughout the Middle Ages, 
Vergil, Cicero, and others of the best Latin authors were read 
as models of style, however imperfectly they were followed; 
but their content was feared as pagan. Now they began to be 
read for meaning as well as style. To these new studies, as 
distinguished from scholastic philosophy and theology, the Latin 
name lit'terae humanio'res was given, from which we derive our 
terms "humanism" and "humanists." Two ideas were implied 
in humanism, — first, the development of man as man, and 
not merely as a candidate for heaven ; and second, that in 
classical literature alone was human nature displayed in its 
full intellectual and moral freedom. "Ancient literature was 



304 



THE ITALIAN CITIES AND THE RENAISSANCE 



Modern His- 
tory, I, 538 



val of learn 
ing 



now welcomed not only as supplying standards of form, but 
as disclosing a new conception of life ; a conception freer, larger, 

Cambridge ^^ore rational, and more joyous than the medieval; one 
which gave unfettered scope to the play of the human 
feelings, to the sense of beauty, and to all the activities 
of the intellect." 

As a result of the humanistic spirit a new and exaggerated 
reverence for Greek and Roman antiquity sprang up. Because 

336 Revi- ^^^ classical authors were now understood, men prof- 
ited by their style as never before. Better Latin began 
to be written; and Greek, the knowledge of which had 
gradually died out in the West, was relearned from Constanti- 
nople. "Greece has not fallen," said an Italian scholar after 
the fall of Constantinople, "but seems 'to have migrated to 
Italy." Under the impulse of the new love for learning, the 
libraries of the monasteries of Europe were ransacked, and many 
lost works were recovered. Critical^scholarship was born in 
the task of identifying and edit- ' > 

ing these treasures ; and gram- 
mars and dictionaries, of which 
there had been an almost total 
lack, were compiled to interpret 
them. At the same time there 
took place, almost incidentally, a 
development of literature in the 
vernacular tongues, or language of 
the people, which went far beyond 
the simple beginnings traced in a 
preceding chapter (§ 220). 

The chief originators of both the 
revival of classical learning and 

337. Dante, the development of vernac- 

mer^of the ^^^^ literature were three 

dawn" great scholars and literary 

men of the fourteenth century, — ^ , -u j . ^- .. • 

■' ■ rrom a fresco ascribed to Giotto, in 

Dan te, Petrarch (pe'trark), and the Bargello at Florence (restored) 




Dante 



THE REVIVAL OF LEARNING 



3<^S 



Boccaccio (bok-ka'cho). All three were Florentines; but each, 
owing either to banishment or to other causes, spent most of 
his life in exile. Dante, the oldest of the three, was born soon 
after the middle of 'the thirteenth century; he died (in 1321) 
when Petrarch was aged seventeen and Boccaccio was a boy of 
eight. Dante was one of the profoundest scholars of his day, 
as well as one of the noblest poetic geniuses of all time. His 
great poem, The Divine Comedy, tells of his fabled descent into 
hell, and of his visit to purgatory and to paradise. In this 
work he used th e It alian dialect of Tuscany instead of Latin, 
in which all__serious_ literary works of the Middle Ages had._ 
beenjwritten,. His character showed many of the traits which 
distinguished the men of the Renaissance from the men of the 
Middle Ages. Among these were his proud self-conscious spirit 
of independence, his striving for the development of his own 
personality, his longing for poetic fame. But if we take him 
as a whole, he belongs to the era that was closing, not to the 

one that was opening. His 
theology, learning, and point of 
view were medieval and scho- 
lastic. In spite of some modern 
traits he shows only "the^lim- 
mer of the dawn." of the Ren- 
aissance. 

With Petrarc h it was differ- 
ent. Though he was inferior to 
Dante as a poet, to him 338. Pe- 
belongs the special credit trarch, the 
of being ''thejfet modern JheRe°nais- 
sclwk£_jj]d_man of let- sance 
ters." He was born near Flor- 
ence, spent his boyhood at Avig- 
non, and in manhood passed 
from one Italian court to an- 
other. He longed passionately 
for a revival of the glories of an- 




Petrarch 

From a miniature by Simone Memmi 
in the Laurentian Library, Florence 



3o6 THE ITALIAN CITIES AND THE RENAISSANCE 

dent Rome, and was the first who zealously collected Latin 
manuscripts, inscriptions, and coins. The writers of antiquity 
were more real personalities to him than the men of his own day. 
He entered more completely into the spirit of the ancient litera- 
ture than any man before him since the fall of the ancient world. 
He tried to learn Greek in order that he might read Homer, but 
failed because of the lack of Greek teachers. Petrarch was the 
author of countless letters, each of them an essay in finished 
Latin style. Through the circulation of these letter s, he be - 
came the chief agent in arousing throughout Italy a cultured 



• and inquiring spirit. He also wrote extensively in fKe popular 
tongue. His Sonnets, addressed to his ladylove Laura, showed 
that the Italian language was as well adapted to lyric poetry, 
as Dante had shown it to be for sustained epic composition. 
Boccaccio was the third of these great Florentines. He is 
noted asthe author of a series of short stories, the style 

339. Boc- of which is so excellent that it has gained for him the title 
thers°the^' "the father of ItaHan prose." More important than 
Renaissance his work in this field were his^ervices to classical scholar- 
ship. A great difiiculty in the way of understanding the works 
of the ancients was the almost total lack of dictionaries and 
other aids. Boccaccio remedied this defect s omewhat by corn - 

_piling. valuable dictionaries of classical mythology and geogra- 
phy; He also, though with great difficulty, gained some 
knowledge of Greek, and was the first Italian for seven cen- 
turies who could boast of an acquaintance with that tongue. 

After Petrarch and Boccaccio, scores of humanists of lesser 
genius but greater learning carried on the movement. Among 

340. Later these may be mentioned a learned Greek from Constanti- 
t'^'^rt^the iiople, named Chrysolo'ras, who for some years taught 
revival Greek at Florence and elsewhere. He prepared the first 

modern grammar of the Greek language, which remained in use 
for many years. Italian scholars soon began also to go to Con- 
stantinople to study Greek there. Before the fall of the Eastern 
Empire, a knowledge of Greek had become common among 
western scholars. This was of much importance; for, if it 



THE REVIVAL OF LEARNING 307 

was the sounder knowledge of the great Latin classics which 
chiefly contributed to the literary revival of the Renaissance, 
it was the recovery of the Greek authors in their original tongue 
which produced the rebirth of the scientific spirit, which was 
a profounder result of the Renaissance. 

The work of recovering and interpreting the lost works of 
antiquity went on apace, and many scholars contributed to it 
in different ways. Some searched out — in the dark and musty 
corners of the monasteries of Italy, Germany, and France — 
manuscripts of works the very existence of which had been 
forgotten. Others made a business of restoring, editing, and 
copying these manuscripts. They thus made possible the 
founding of great libraries, — by the Medici at Florence, by 
Pope Nicholas V at Rome, and by the Venetians. Other 
scholars traveled about restlessly from city to city, lecturing in 
the Italian universities, discussing questions of scholarship in 
the learned circles of Florence, Rome, and Naples, and every- 
where spreading the Renaissance spirit. Others, like Lorenzo 
Valla, who exposed the forged character of the "Donation of 
Constantine" (§ 91), applied the. tools of criticism to the claims 
of the church. But in the main the Italian humanists, if not 
loyal sons of the church, were at least not hostile to it. The 
dangers to the church which lay in the unrestricted activity of 
the new criticism were not fully revealed until its transfer to the 
nations north of the Alps. 

The spirit of the Renaissance showed itself also in criticism of 
medieval philosophy and medieval science. Scholastic 341. phi- 
philosophy lost its hold upon the world. The writings of losophy and 

SCi6IlC6 

Plato were now read along with those of Aristotle, both in 
the original Greek. Medicine profited by the dissection of the 
human body ; but it was not until the middle of the seventeenth 
century that an English physician (Harvey) completely demon- 
strated the circulation of the blood. Chemistry made important 
strides, though to many investigators it still continued to be 
only a means to find the mythical ''philosopher's stone," with 
which to turn base metals into gold. Gunpowder (§ 272) was 



3o8 THE ITALIAN CITIES AND THE RENAISSANCE 

so improved in composition that it became an effective instru- 
ment of warfare. Above all, the study of the stars passed from 
the astrologer to the astronomer. For centuries the teaching 
of the Greek philosopher Ptolemy (tol'e-my) had prevailed. 
This made the earth the center of the universe, about which 
turned the sun, moon, and stars. Coper'nicus, in the six- 
teenth century, taught that the sun is the center about which 
the earth revolves, together with the other planets. Galileo 
(gal-i-le'o), some years later, with the aid of the telescope, which 
he so improved as to make it practically a new invention, ex- 
plored the heavens and made discovery after discovery. But 
because of the opposition of the theologians, he was obliged to 
withdraw as heretical the teaching, which he borrowed from 
Copernicus, that the earth moves both around the svm and upon 
its axis. 

In the period of the Renaissance there was a general accept- 
ance by learned men of the view that the earth is a sphere, 

,., n^^^ a view which had been held by ancient Greek and Roman 
342. Geog- ... 

raphy and geographers and rejected in the Middle Ages on theologi- 
navigation ^^^ grounds. Geographical knowledge received some 
extension in the thirteenth century through the commercial 
travels of a few Venetians, — Marco Polo and members of his 
family, — in China. After nearly twenty years' sojourn in that 
country, they returned to Europe by way of the Pacific Ocean 
and the Persian Gulf, thus confirming the report which Roger 
Bacon had heard of a sea which washed the other shore of Asia. 
Marco Polo's story of their travels later set men on the search 
for an ocean route to India, and so contributed to the discoveries 
of Vasco da Gama and Columbus. 

These discoveries were also assisted by the development of 
a system of reasonable maps, which took the place of the fantastic 
and mythical representations of the world made in the Middle 
Ages. In the sixteenth century the invention of Mercator's 
projection — a form of map in which all meridians and parallels 
are straight lines intersecting at right angles — made possible 
sea charts for compass sailing on courses drawn as straight 



REVIVAL OF THE FINE ARTS 309 

lines. The instruments of navigation also were greatly improved. 
The magnetic needle, which was known to Roger Bacon, was 
by now embodied in the mariners' compass, and was in general 
use in the fifteenth century. That century saw also the develop- 
ment of instruments for ascertaining latitude, — - the cross-staff 
and astrolabe, forerunners of the modern sextant. Longitude, 
however, could not be reckoned with any degree of accuracy 
until the invention of the watch, in the eighteenth century, 
made possible its calculation by differences of time. 

The revolution which was wrought in men's minds by the 
discovery of the New World, of whose existence the Old 
World in general had been wholly unconscious,^ was, of course, 
enormous. With such discoveries being made in science and 
in geography men came to feel that anything was possible. The 
limitations on thought which the Middle Ages had imposed were 
cast off as a snake discards its outgrown skin. 

C. Revival of the Fine Arts 

The Italian Renaissance was not only an event of supreme 
importance in the history of the human intellect; it was an 
epoch-making development in the world of art as well. 343. Factors 
Architecture, sculpture, and painting all felt the new ^° ^^ 5®^^ 
impulse, and flowered into masterpieces such as the world arts 
had not seen since the days of classical Greece. This develop- 
ment was due especially to three causes: (i) After centuries 
of conventionalized treatment of the human figure, artists 
began again to study nature itself, and to draw from the living 
model. Many of them went further and dissected human 
bodies, in order to learn anatomy and thus be enabled better to 
draw the human form. In general, artists now strove to depict 

1 Conflicts with the natives and other difficulties had prevented the Northmen 
from following up their discovery of North America. ICnowledge of that discovery 
never penetrated outside Scandinavia, and indeed seems to have been forgotten by 
the Scandinavians themselves. Iceland and Greenland both appear on maps of the 
fifteenth and sixteenth centuries as mere peninsulas projecting from northern 
Europe. 



3IO 



THE ITALIAN CITIES AND THE RENAISSANCE 



the real world of men and things about them, and were no longer 
satisfied with the stiff symbolical representations of the Middle 
Ages. (2) Along with the study of nature they studied also 
the sculpture and other artistic remains of classical Greece and 
Rome. What they gained from this study especially was new 
ideals of harmony, grace, and beauty, to modify the harsh 
and repidsive realism to which their study of nature tended. 
(3) From the study of antiquity, and from other sources, they 
learned better technical methods of execution. Among these 
may be mentioned the discovery of the 
laws of perspective, which were now 
worked out in systematic form, and the 
process of painting in oils, which had 
been discovered by Flemish painters and 
possessed many advantages over the 
methods of painting hitherto used. 

The revival of the fine arts began in 
Italy with Nicholas of Pisa (died about 

' Lead- 1278). He was the first to improve 

ing Italian sculpture by a study of the remains 
of ancient Rome, and also by copy- 
ing the living forms of nature. Giotto 
(jot'to; died 1337), a Florentine and 
friend of Dante, began the movement 
in painting. In this field there were 
practically no models of ancient Greece 
and Rome to follow ; but by observing 
men and women about him, Giotto en- 
deavored to free painting from the stiff 
conventional treatment of the Middle 
Ages, and make his figures more lifelike.^ 



artists 




Giotto's Tower 



The bell tower of the ca- 
thedral of Florence (not 
shown : to the right) 



1 Most of Giotto's paintings were "frescoes," made by a process extensively used 
before the rise of oil painting. The colors were mixed with water and applied directly 
to the wet, freshly plastered wall, the result being a painting in highly permanent 
colors. To-day the term "fresco" is applied loosely to mean any sort of wall or 
ceiling painting, even when done in oil on a canvas ground. 



REVIVAL OF THE FINE ARTS 



311 



Both Nicholas of Pisa and Giotto were architects also ; and it 
is to Giotto that we owe the beautiful bell tower {campanile) 
of Florence. The English critic Ruskin, in speaking of Ruskin, 
power and beauty in architecture, says that these charac- o/!4fcM^ 
teristics in their highest relative degrees exist "only in one ture, ch. iv 
building in the world, the campanile of Giotto at Florence." 

The fifteenth century saw a fuller development of the revival 
in architecture, when men adapted the style of ancient Rome 
to the requirements of modern building. Bramante (bra-man'ta ; 




St. Peter's at Rome (Present condition; erected 1506-1626) 

died 15 14) was foremost in this work, and to him Rome owes 
the original plan and part of the completed structure of the new 
church of St. Peter's. Michelan'gelo, the most famous of the 
great Florentine artists (died 1564), illustrates the many-sided- 
ness of the Italian Renaissance, for he attained preeminence 
alike in architecture, sculpture, and painting. He superin- 
tended the building of St. Peter's, and planned its towering 
dome. He sculptured many figures, of which those of David and 
Moses, and the statues for the Medici monument at Florence, 




Michelangelo's The Thinker 

One of the statues of the Medici monument at Florence. It represents Lorenzo II, grand- 
son of Lorenzo the Magnificent, and typifies " the mood of crafty brooding and concentrated 
inward thought." 



312 



SPREAD OF THE RENAISSANCE 313 

are perhaps the most famous. He painted a series of bibHcal 
pictures for the Sistine chapel at Rome, of which his fresco of 
the Last Judgment is probably the most famous single picture 
in the world. In addition he was a poet of no mean note. 

In painting, the Italian Renaissance reached its height in the 
period 1470-1550, which saw the works of the Florentine 
Leonar'do da Vinci (da ven'che) and the Florentine-taught 
Raphael (raf'a-el), as well as those of Michelangelo. In Venice 
the movement was of somewhat later origin than elsewhere 
in Italy ; but a Venetian school, of which Titian (tish'an ; died 
1576) was foremost, gained fame for its brilliant and accurate 
coloring. 

It is impossible by mere description to give any idea of the 
beauty and splendor of the great paintings executed by these 
artists. In art even more than in letters Florence was the capital 
of Italy; and it is in its museums that many of the best 
paintings of the period are still to be found. The subjects 
painted were largely drawn from mythological and religious 
sources ; but the landscapes and costumes depicted were those 
of the artist's own time and place. The individualism of the 
Renaissance manifests itself in the painting of portraits of real 
persons, which was very little practiced in the Middle Ages. 
In the characters depicted in religious and classical scenes we 
can often recognize portraits of the artist himself, his patrons, 
and his friends. 

D. Spread of the Renaissance 

The Renaissance art of Italy was carried north of the Alps, 
and greatly modified German, French, and Flemish architecture, 
sculpture, and painting. Diirer and Holbein (hol'bin) ^^.^ 

were the great German painters of the first half of the north of 
sixteenth century. A little later the preeminence in ® P^ 
northern Europe passed to Rubens, a Fleming. In the middle 
of the seventeenth century, the great Dutch painters Frans 
Hals (died 1666) and Rembrandt (died 1669) transformed the 



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Raphael's Sistine Madonna 

This masterpiece was painted by JR aphael for an Italian church dedicated to Saint Sixtus. 
who is shown kneeUng on the left (hence the name " Sistine Madonna"). The figure on 
the right is that of Saint Barbara. The picture was sold in 1753 to the Elector of Saxony, 
who removed it to Dresden, where it has since remained. In the countenances of the 
mother and child the art of Raphael reaches its highest point. 

314 



SPREAD OF THE RENAISSANCE 315 

humblest subjects by the magic of their skill, and laid the founda- 
tion of modern art. In Spain Velasquez (va-las'kath ; died 
1660) and Murillo (died 1682) created a Spanish school whose 
works rank in excellence with the best productions of Italy 
and the Netherlands. A Fleming, Van Dyck (van dik' ; died 
1 641), had the chief part in introducing the Renaissance style 
of painting into England. In France, Claude Lorrain (lo-ran' ; 
died 1682) founded modern landscape painting.^ 

The intellectual awakening also spread gradually to the lands 
beyond the Alps. The great church councils of the fifteenth 
century were an important help in this work by bringing ^ Snread 
the scholars of Italy into touch with those of other lands, of the new 
In addition, traders and persons going on church or other ^^^^^^^ 
business to Italy aided in the movement, by bringing back 
new ideas of many sorts. 

The greatest aid to the Renaissance, however, was afforded 
by the invention of printing. As late as 1350 practically all 
books in Europe were prepared entirely with the pen. inven- 

. Some time after that date the practice arose of printing, tion of 
from engraved blocks of wood, tracts and short books for ^"" *"^ 
which there was a large sale. Such crude "block books" 
were a step in advance, but their production is not what we 
mean by the invention of printing. This consisted in the in- 

1 The following is a list of famous paintings by the artists mentioned in this chap- 
ter ; prints of many of these may be obtained at small cost in the Perry Pictures, 
Elson Prints, and other collections: (i) Giotto — Frescoes of Arena chapel, 
Padua. (2) Michelangelo — The Last Judgment ; The Creation ; figures of 
sibyls and prophets. (3) Leonardo da Vinci — The Last Supper. (4) Raphael 

— The Sistine Madonna ; The School of Athens ; The Disputation of the Sacrament. 

(5) Titian — The Assumption; Bacchus and Ariadne; portrait of Francis I. 

(6) DiJRER — Portrait of himself; Adoration of the Magi; numerous engrav- 
ings. (7) Holbein — Portrait of Erasmus, and many other portraits. (8) Rubens 

— Descent from the Cross ; Horrors of War ; etc. (g) Frans Hals — The Laugh- 
ing Cavalier; corporation pieces. (10) Rembrandt — The Night Watch; The 
Lesson in Anatomy ; The Windmill; portraits of himself ; etc. (11) Velasquez — 
Portrait of Philip IV, and other portraits. (12) Murillo — The Immaculate Con- 
ception; St. John and the Lamb; groups of beggar boys. (13) Van Dyck — Por- 
traits of Charles I, and other portraits. (14) Claltde Lorrain — The Queen of 
Sheba ; views of the Roman Campagna. 



3l6 THE ITALIAN CITIES AND THE RENAISSANCE 

ventionof the type mold, by which separate types could he accurately 
cast in metal in large quantities. The honor of this invention is 
usually given to John Gutenberg (goo'ten-berK) of Mainz, 
in Germany, who printed from movable types about the year 
1450; but the date, place, and original discoverer of the art 
are all disputed. This invention cheapened books and spread 
broadcast the means of culture. By the end of that century, 




Spread of Printing during the Fifty Years following its Introduction 

INTO Mainz 

The boundaries are modern 



printers had established themselves in more than two hundred 
places in Europe, and books and pamphlets were multiplied 
at an unprecedented rate. Leaflets containing woodcut pictures, 
illustrating the questions of the day, made an equally powerful 
appeal to the illiterate. 

In Italy, in the latter part of the fifteenth century, scholars 
became almost pagan in their devotion to the learning of Greece 
and Rome ; and frank disregard of religion and morality spread 



SPREAD OF THE RENAISSANCE 



317 



among all classes. North of the Alps a more serious tone char- 
acterized the movement. Without neglecting the classical au- 
thors, scholars turned more to the study of early Christian 348. Char- 

writers. In England, John Colet (col'et), dean of St. Paul's acter of the 
* ' •' '. , ■ ,. . Renaissance 

cathedral at London, labored for an educational and religious beyond the 

revival. In Germany, Reuchlin (roiK'lin) became the center ^^p^ 
of a bitter literary and theological quarrel, because of his Hebrew 
studies and his desire to save the books of the Jews from burn- 
ing at the hands of bigoted scholastics. To defend him, a group 
of younger humanists, of whom the brilliant but dissolute 
Ulrich von Hutten was one, published a series of satirical 
letters entitled Epistolae Ohscurorum Virorum ("Letters of 
Obscure Men") purporting to be written by Reuchlin's oppo- 
nents, and designed to cast ridicule upon them as a stupid party. 
The best example of northern humanism is offered by Eras- 
mus (e-raz'mus) of Rotterdam (1467-1536). After passing 

a few years as a monk in ^^^^ 

the Netherlands, he stud- 
ied at Paris, in England, 
and in Italy. His home thence- 
forth was wherever there were 
literary friends, books, and a 
printing press. He was ac- 
knowledged and honored as the 
greatest scholar, both in Latin 
and Greek, north of the Alps. 
To these attainments was added 
a gift for wit and pungent 
satire which made his influ- 
ence throughout Europe almost 
unparalleled. His most widely 
read work was his Praise of 
Folly, an elegantly written 
Latin satire. Folly is represented as singing her own praises, 
and showing that to her are due the arrogance and hairsplit- 
ting subtleties of the theologians, the ignorant preoccupation 




mus of 
Rotterdam 



Erasmus 

From the painting by Holbein in the 
Louvre, Paris 



3l8 THE ITALIAN CITIES AND THE RENAISSANCE 

with ceremonies on the part of the monks, the slavish worship 
of saints and images by the common people, the faith in in- 
dulgences on the part of unrepentant sinners, and the luxury 
and neglect of duty shown by heads of the church.^ Scores 
of other books were written by Erasmus. He devoted himself 
especially to editing and printing works of the early church 
fathers, and thus became the founder of a more learned and 
comprehensive theology. The most important of his books 
was his edition of the New Testament (1516). This made 
accessible, for the first time in a printed volume, the original 
Greek text of that book. Its importance lay in the fact that it 
made it possible thenceforth for scholars, by referring to the 
Greek text, to test for themselves the accuracy of the Vulgate 
(or Latin) version used by the church.^ Owing to the knowledge 
of Latin possessed by all educated men, Erasmus's works were 
everywhere read. 

1 The following passage concerning monks will illustrate the spirit and style of 
the Praise of Folly: "The greater part of them have such faith in their ceremonies 
and human traditions, that they think one heaven is not reward enough for such 
great doings. . . . One will show his belly stuSed with every kind of fish ; another 
will pour out a hundred bushels of psalms; another will count up myriads of fasts, 
and make up for them all again by almost bursting himself at a single dinner. An- 
other will bring forward such a heap of ceremonies that seven ships would hardly 
hold them ; another boast that for sixty years he has never touched a penny except 
with double gloves on his hands. . . . But Christ will interrupt their endless brag- 
ging, and will demand, 'Whence this new kind of Judaism?' They do all things 
by rule, by a kind of sacred mathematics ; as, for instance, how many knots their 
shoes must be tied with, of what color everything must be, what variety in their 
garb, of what material, how many straws-breadth to their girdle, of what form and 
of how many bushels' capacity their cowl, how many fingers broad their hair, and 
how many hours they sleep." — In Lindsay, History of the Reformation, I, 182. 

2 Erasmus favored also the translation of the Bible into the language of the people. 
''I altogether and utterly dissent," he wrote, "from those who are unwilling that the 
Holy Scriptures, translated into the vulgar tongue, should be read by private per- 
sons, as though the teachings of Christ were so abstruse as to be intelligible only to 
a very few theologians, or as though the safety of the Scriptures rested on man's 
ignorance of it. It may be well to conceal the mysteries of kings ; but Christ willed 
that his mysteries should be published as widely as possible. I should wish that 
simple women should read the Gospels, should read the Epistles of St. Paul. Would 
that the Scriptures were translated into all languages, that it might be read and 
known not only to Scots and Irishmen, but even by Turks and Saracens." — Trans- 
lated in Milman, Savonarola, Erasmus, etc., p. 122. 



TOPICS AND REFERENCES 319 

Erasmus desired a reformation in the church "without . 
tum.ult," carried through by education and by appeal to the 
reason. In a letter to a schoolmaster who was one of his numer- 
ous correspondents he gave this advice : " Stick to your proude, 
teaching work. Do not be crossing swords with the Erasmus, 
champions of the old ignorance. Try rather to sow ^^^ 
better seed in the minds of the young. If princes are blind, if 
the heads of the church prefer the rewards of this world to the 
rewards promised by Christ, if divines and monks choose to 
stick to their synagogues, if the world generally chooses to 
preserve the forms to which men are accustomed — well then, 
we must put new wine in the old bottles. The seed will grow 
in the end, and the opposition is more from ignorance than ill- 
will. Teach your boys carefully, edit the writings of the fathers, 
and irreligious religion and unlearned learning will pass away 
in due time;." Erasmus's plan of orderly reform, as it proved, 
could not avert the uprising against the church ; but his Beard, Ref- 
work profoundly affected that movement as well as the ^^^ sixteenth 
church itself. "The Reformation that has been," says Century, 73 
a writer of our own time, "is Luther's monument : perhaps the 
Reformation that is to be will trace itself back to Erasmus." 

TOPICS AND REFERENCES 

Suggestive Topics. — (i) What was there in the condition of Italy to cause 
the Renaissance to begin there? (2) Contrast the medieval and the 
modern ways of looking at nature and the world. (3) Did the Renaissance 
in Italy begin before or after the fall of Constantinople? (4) Was it the 
Revival of Learning that produced the humanistic spirit, or was it the human- 
istic spirit that produced the Revival of Learning ? (5) Compare the parts 
played by Dante, Petrarch, and Boccaccio in the Renaissance. (6) What part 
did princes and Popes play in the movement ? (7) What other aspects were 
there to the Renaissance besides the Revival of Learning ? (8) From what 
two sources came the influences which caused the development of the fine 
arts ? (9) Make a list of all prints and photographs of Italian paintings 
of the Renaissance period that you can ' find. (10) Do the same for 
sculptures. (11) How did printing aid the spread of the Renaissance? 
(12) What was Erasmus's part in the Renaissance? (13) Why were the 
northern humanists more serious and religious-minded than the Italian? 



320 THE ITALIAN CITIES AND THE RENAISSANCE 

Search Topics. — (i) The Italian Despots. Symonds, Short History 
of the Renaissance in Italy, ch. iii ; Age of the Despots; Sedgwick, Short History 
of Italy, ch. xx. — ■ (2) Machiavelli's Advice to Despots. Robinson, 
Readings in European History, I, 516-520. — -(3) Early History of 
Florence. Gardner, Story of Florence, chs. i-ii; Encyclopedia Britannica 
(nth ed.), X, 530-534. — (4) Dante. Symonds, Introduction to the Study 
of Dante, chs. ii-iii; Lowell, Literary Essays ("Dante"); Oliphant, Makers 
of Florence. — (5) Petrarch. Symonds, in Encyclopedia Britannica 
("Petrarch"); Robinson and Rolfe, Petrarch, Introduction and pages 84- 
97) 275-278, 307-320; Robinson, Readings, I, 524-528; Ogg, Source Book, 
462-473. — (6) The Search for Manuscripts and the Founding of 
Libraries. Van Dyke, Age of the Renascence, ch. xi; Cambridge Modern 
History, 1, 549-553; Robinson, Readings, I, 529-531. — (7) Lorenzo de 
Medici. Dunn Pattison, Leading Figures in European History, 165-189; 
Armstrong, Lorenzo de' Medici, chs. i, viii-ix ; Horsburgh, Lorenzo the Mag- 
nificent, chs. xii, xvi. — (8) Florentine Life during the Renaissance. 
Oliphant, Makers of Florence, ch. vi ; Horsburgh, Lorenzo the Magnificent, 
ch. XX ; Biagi, Men and Manners of Old Florence, ii-iii; Norton, Church 
Building in the Middle Ages, 181-233. — ■ (9) How Brunelleschi Built 
THE Dome of the Cathedral of Florence. Norton, Church Building 
in the Middle Ages, 234-292. — (10) Michelangelo. Encyclopedia Britan- 
nica ("Michelangelo"); Van Dyke, History of Painting; Lilly, Chapters in 
European History, II, ch. i. — (11) Leonardo da Vinci. Encyclopedia 
Britannica ("Leonardo da Vinci") ; Van Dyke, History of Painting. — (12) 
Raphael. Encyclopedia Britannica ("Raphael Sanzio"); Van Dyke, His- 
tory of Painting. (13) The Venetian School of Painters. Symonds, 
Short History, 229-233; Van Dyke, History of Painting. — (14) Explo- 
ration and Discovery. Channing, History of the United States, I, ch. i ; 
Cheyney, European Background of American History, chs. iii-iv; Fiske, 
Discovery of America, I, ch. iv. — (15) Copernicus. Encyclopedia Britan- 
nica; Lodge, Pioneers of Science. — (16) The Invention of Printing. 
De Vinne, The Invention of Printing; Encyclopedia Britannica ("Typog- 
raphy"). — (17) Erasmus. Seebohm, Oxford Reformers, 186-205; Emer- 
ton, Desiderius Erasmus, ch. v; Stone, Reformation, and Renaissance, 
ch. v; Robinson, Readings, II, 41-46. 

General Reading. — Symonds's Renaissance in Italy (7 vols.) is the best 
general account in English; his Short History of the Renaissance in Italy 
is an abridgment of the larger work. Robinson and Rolfe's Petrarch, 
the First Modern Scholar and Man of Letters is valuable and interesting, 
as also is Emerton's Desiderius Erasmus. Van Dyke's History of Painting 
is a good guide for the fine arts of the Renaissance. 



CHAPTER XVII 

THE GERMAN REFORMATION 

A. The Reformation Prepared 

The Reformation was a many-sided movement, — political, 
economic, intellectual, and religious. Its fundamental cause was 
a general reaction against the life and religion of the Middle ^^^ causes 
Ages, which manifested itself independently in several dif- of the Ref- 
ferent countries at about the same time. Among the chief 
causes which in Germany contributed to produce a revolt from 
the Catholic Church we may note the following : — 

(i) There was widespread dissatisfaction with abuses in the 
church, and with the failure of Popes and councils to reform 
them. 

(2) A spirit was arising among the people which led them to 
oppose the exclusive power and privileges claimed by the 
clergy. The rise of strong national states, the heads of which 
followed their own interests and desires, was one manifestation 
of this spirit. 

(3) There was a deepening sense of religion among the people, 
which made them dissatisfied with the purely formal and me- 
chanical religion which the church often presented to them, talker, 
"If the wider interests of religion are had in view," says Reformation, 
Walker, "the period just previous to the Reformation 
witnessed not the lowest decline but the highest development 

of medieval Christianity — high enough to be dissatisfied with 
its state, to feel dimly the inadequacy of its institutions, and 
the need of their improvement." 

(4) In addition there was the undermining influence of the 



322 



THE GERMAN REFORMATION 



spirit of the Renaissance, with its contempt for the Middle 
Ages, its demand for freedom of inquiry, its appeal to reason 
instead of to authority, and its tendency to test the teachings 
of the church by the Scriptures and early church fathers. 

(5) Finally, there was in Germany a deep-seated feeling of 
social and economic discontent, which for one or another reason 
made all classes, from princes to peasants, dissatisfied and pre- 
disposed to change. In part the discontent was due to a rapid 
rise of prices somewhat similar to that which the world experi- 
ences in the early part of the twentieth century. In part it 
was due to injustices inflicted upon knights by princes, and upon 
peasants by knights, in the political reorganization then taking 
place. In part it was due to a national feeling of irritation at 
the failure of the government to protect the land against the 
oppressive taxes which on one pretext or another the papacy 
levied upon Germany more than upon 
any other country. Thus Germany 
was in an inflammable condition, and 
Luther supplied the spark which set 
it afire. 

Martin Luther was born in 1483 at 
Eisleben (is'la-ben), a little village of 
Early electoral Saxony. His parents 
life of were peasants, and his child- 

hood was one of grinding pov- 
erty. His father, however, was de- 
termined that Martin, his eldest son, 
should become a lawyer and rise in 
the social scale. Luther became a 
begging student, singing for his bread, 
until at the age of eighteen his father's 
labors and sacrifices enabled the 
young man to go to the University 
of Erfurt, and devote all his time to 

study. After four years there, Luther took his degree of 
Master of Arts with unusual distinction. He was just ready to 



Luther 




Luther 

From the painting by O. 
Brausewetter 



THE REFORMATION BEGUN 



323 



begin the study of law, when suddenly he entered a monastery 
of the Augustinian friars, 'a mendicant order similar to the 
Dominicans and Franciscans. 

Just what led Luther to give up the promise of a successful 
career and turn his back upon the world we can never know. 
In the monastery he was tortured by an agonizing sense „• 

of sin ; and he strove to attain inward peace through a life in a 
strict observance of the rules, — through fasting, vigils, "i°'^^stery 
and mortification of the flesh. "If ever a monk got to heaven 
by monkhood," he said afterward, "I should have attained it." 
But the much desired peace of mind did not come. At last, from 
his study of the Scriptures and from mystical teachers and 
writings, he gradually came to the conviction that all of man's 
own efforts to win salvation ("good works") are useless, and 
that justification (or salvation) is a divine gift which comes 
only as a result of personal faith in the power of Christ's atone- 
m.ent to remove sin. 

This doctrine of JMstification by faith alone became the 
central idea of Luther's belief. The peace which it gave to 
him, he sought to impart to others in his labors as preacher 353. Pro- 
and theological teacher. In 1508 he became a professor fessorin 
in the University of Wittenberg, newly founded by the elec- sity of 
tor of Saxony. Though he taught his new-old view of the Wittenberg 
way of salvation, he had as yet no idea of attacking the church. 
In 1 5 1 1 he was sent on a mission to Rome, where his piety was 
shocked by the worldliness and irreligion of the clergy. On his 
return he speedily became the most influential teacher in his 
university. Students flocked to his lectures, and he was 
generally recognized as one of the rising men of Germany. 

B. The Reformation Begun 

In 15 1 7 Luther was disturbed by the coming into his neighbor- 
hood of Tetzel, a preacher of indulgences. To understand the 
nature of an indulgence, you must know that in the sacra- 
ment of penance the priest, for each sin, imposed upon the sinner 



324 THE GERMAN REFORMATION 

various penitential acts, — such as fastings, pilgrimages, and 

the hke. If the sinner died before these penitential acts were 

3S4. Tetzel completed, his soul must be purified and prepared for 

sells indul- heaven by long years of suffering in purgatory. But a 

gences ^^^ ^^^ discovered by which these long penances could 

be abridged and the sojourn in purgatory avoided. Christ and 

the saints were supposed by their holy lives and deeds to have 

stored up vast spiritual treasures in heaven ; and this "heavenly 

treasury" (as it was called) was looked upon as a sort of bank 

on which the Pope had the power to draw checks transferring 

its spiritual benefits to the account of repentant sinners. An 

indulgence was such a check. It made the recipient a sharer 

in "the prayers, suffrages, aim-deeds, fastings, and all other 

spiritual benefits " of the Catholic church. 

In earlier times indulgences could be obtained only by taking 
part in a crusade, by going on a pilgrimage, or by some act 
of personal piety. But in the later Middle Ages the practice 
arose of granting indulgences for a money contribution to some 
worthy cause. In Luther's time it was especially for contribu- 
tions to the rebuilding of St. Peter's Church at Rome that indul- 
gences were offered. By purchasing letters of indulgence, a man 
might procure release not only from the performance on earth 
of wearisome penitential acts, but also from the possibility of 
years of suffering in purgatory. Relatives were also encouraged 
to purchase indulgences for the dead. Tetzel is even reported to 
have said, "As soon as the money rattles in the box, the soul 
flies out of purgatory." In the authoritative teaching of the 
church, indulgences did not do away with the necessity for 
repentance on the part of the sinner. But such preachers as 
Tetzel, to increase the sale of indiilgences, perverted the au- 
thorized theory, and gave the impression that an indulgence 
wiped away the penalties of sin even without true repentance.^ 

1 Catholic writers admit that there were good causes for complaint of the traffic 
in indulgences. "Grievous abuses there certainly were in the proceedings and the 
behavior of the indulgence preachers, and the manner of offering and extolling the 
indulgence caused all sorts of scandal." — Janssen, History of the German People, 
III, p. 92. 



THE REFORMATION' BEGUN 



325 



Luther felt that such teachings were contrary to the deepest 
truths of Christianity. In accordance with the practice of 
medieval scholars, he posted on the door of the church at 
Wittenberg in 1517 a series of ninety-five theses (propo- Luther's 
sitions for discussion) setting forth his views concerning ^!^^ . 
indulgences. He was far from wishing to break with the dulgences 
ancient church. His theses merely denounced the abuses ^^^i?) 
of the indulgence system, and emphasized the necessity of faith 
in order to attain salvation. He declared that no one would 




Wittenberg nsr 1645. From a contemporary engraying 

be quicker than the Pope to condemn the teachings of Tetzel. 
Much to Luther's astonishment, his theses when printed spread 
rapidly throughout Germany. Pope Leo X was at first in- 
clined to look upon the whole matter as a mere "squabble of 
monks." But to give up indulgences, as then used, meant a 
considerable loss to the papal revenue. Luther's opinions, 
also, if carried to their logical conclusions, attacked the whole 
mediatorial power of the priest. 

It was determined, therefore, to silence Luther. In 15 19 he 
was prevailed upon to make a qualified submission. But 356. De- 
his views were soon attacked by Dr. John Eck ; and in a ^^ LuSer's 
disputation at Leipzig, Luther went far beyond his earlier views 
position. He now declared that many of the views for which 



326 THE GERMAN REFORMATION 

John Hus had been condemned as a heretic (§ 322) were never- 
theless true. His opinions developed still further in the months 
that followed. In a series of writings in 1520, the most 
important of which was his Address to the Christian Nobility of 
the German Nation, he taught doctrines which put him entirely 
outside the Catholic Church: — 

1. He set up the Bible as the sole source of Christian truth, before 

which aU other opinions must give way. 

2. He rejected the headship of the Pope over the church. The Pope 

now seemed to him "not the most holy, but the most sinful of 
men," — perhaps even the antichrist foretold in the Bible. 

3. He denied that priests had any power that Christian laymen do 

not have, and taught that "all Christian believers are priests." 

4. He declared that the vows taken by monks and nuns were not bind- 

ing, and that monasteries ought to be abolished. 

5. He rejected the doctrine of transubstantiation, though he believed 

that the body of Christ was physically present in the bread and 
wine of the Lord's Supper. 

6. He rejected all but two of the seven sacraments, — the Lord's 

Supper and baptism. 

These views Luther set forth with great power and effect. 
It must be said, however, that in the heat of controversy his 
peasant blood betrayed him into coarse and intemperate lan- 
guage, which his friends in vain strove to check. 

In the latter part of 1520 the Pope's bull of excommunication 

was published against Luther. Forty-one articles selected from 

Luther ^^^ writings were condemned, his books were ordered to 

excommuni- be burned, and he and his followers, unless they recanted, 

ca e (1520J ^gj-g threatened with the punishment of heretics. This 

bull, together with some books of canon law and scholastic 

theology, Luther burned before the city gate of Wittenberg, 

Alzog amid great popular enthusiasm. "My meaning is," he 

Church His- wrote, " that the Papal Chair, its false teachings and 

'"'^' ' ^ abominations, should be committed to the flames." His 

breach with the Catholic Church was now complete. It was 

difficult to see what fate other than that of Hus could await him. 



SPREAD OF THE REFORMATION 



327 



C. Spread of the Reformation 

Luther was able to continue his work for many years, and to 
come at last to a peaceful death, largely because of three favoring 
circumstances. The first was the protection given him 358. Cir- 
by his immediate prince, Frederick the Wise of Saxony, fa^r^g*^^^ 
The second was the political disorganization of Germany, Luther 
which prevented the central government from taking any effective 
steps against him. The third was the preoccupation of the 
Emperor, Charles V, with other parts of his vast dominions, — 
particularly his long wars for Italy with the king of France. 

The young Emperor Charles V (§ 314 ) had inherited the 
sovereignty of the Netherlands, of Spain, of the united realms of 

Naples and Sicily, and of -^^^ . 

vast possessions in the New peror 
World and the Far East Charles V 
(genealogy, p. 283). To these 
was added, upon the death of his 
grandfather Maximilian (in 15 19), 
the Hapsburg inheritance in Ger- 
many. Charles also secured the 
imperial crown, but only after a 
spirited contest against the can- 
didature of Francis I of France. 
These possessions made Charles 
V the greatest prince of his age. 
Upon the course taken by him 
in Germany would depend in 
large measure the outcome of the 
Lutheran movement. 
In 1 52 1 the young Emperor came into Germany, for the first 
time, to hold an imperial Diet at Worms. To this meeting 
Luther, as a special concession to his friends, was sum- creighton, 
moned under the Emperor's safe-conduct. Charles was. Papacy, VI, 
by nature and education, a good Catholic, but it would ^ ^ 
never do to condemn the German heretic unheard. Even the 




Charles V 

Painting in Windsor Castle, showing 
the famous " Hapsburg chin " 



32^ 



THE GERMAN REFORMATION 



Pope's legate wrote: "Nine tenths of Germany shouts for 
Luther. The other tenth, if it does not crave for Luther's 
teachings, at least cries 'Down with the Roman Court,' and 
raises the further demand for a council to be held in Germany." 
When Luther was warned, of the danger that awaited him 
at the Diet, he said, "Though there were as many devils in 
360. Luther Worms as there are tiles upon the roof, I will go there." 
of Worms ^^ ^^^ -"^^^^ ^^ ^^^ called upon to recant the opinions 
(152 1) expressed in his books. He courageously replied: "Un- 

less I am convinced by witness of Scripture or plain reason (for 
I do not believe in the Pope or in councils alone, since it is agreed 
that they have often erred and contradicted themselves), I am 
overcome by the Scriptures which I have adduced, and my 
Beard Conscience is caught in the word of God. I neither can 

Martin nor wiU recant anything, for it is neither safe nor right 

ut er, 441 ^^ ^^^ against one's conscience." Then he added in Ger- 
man: "God help me! Amen." From Pope and council, 
Luther thus appealed to the Bible, interpreted by individual 
judgment. 

All efforts to procure any other answer from him proved vain. 
It is to the honor of Charles V that Luther was allowed to depart 
in safety, and that the Emperor did not, like Sigismund at Con- 
stance, break his pledge of safe-conduct. In May, 1521, a month 
after Luther's departure, the Edict of Worms was issued, add- 
ing the ban of the empire to that of the papacy : — 

1. Luther was to be seized and delivered to the Emperor for execution. 

2. All persons were forbidden on pain of similar ban to give him 

"lodging, food, or drink," or in any way to assist him. 

3. His friends and followers were to be seized and their property 

confiscated. 

4. The writings of Luther and his adherents were to be burned or 

otherwise destroyed. 

Immediately after this Diet Charles left Germany, and was 
continuously absent for nine years, engaged in wars with France. 
Luther for a time was secreted by the Elector Frederick 
in the strong castle of the Wartburg (vart'boorK), where he 



SPREAD OF THE REFORMATION 329 

lived in disguise, few even of his friends knowing what had be- 
come of him. He occupied his leisure with translating the 
Bible into the German tongue. Earlier translations of the ^^ Luther 
Bible into German had been made, but these were crude translates 
and hard to understand. Luther sought to translate the 
Scriptures into the language of the home and of the market 
place, so that the lowliest might read with understanding. He 




Luther's Room in the Wartburg (Photograph) 

succeeded so well that his version became the most widely read 
book in Germany. He thus established a literary standard 
for the German language, in much the same way that the King 
James's version of the Bible did later for the English tongue. 

In spite of the danger which still threatened, Luther left his 
retreat in the Wartburg, in 1522, and returned to Witten- ^^ p^.^ 
berg. The object of his return was to quiet disturbances ress of the 
caused by more radical reformers in his absence. Luther ® °^°^^ '°° 
had been forced against his will into the position of a rebel 



330 THE GERMAN REFORMATION 

against the church. At heart he was a conservative, and wished 
to preserve all of the old worship that was not positively con- 
trary to the Scriptures, as he interpreted them. Under his 
guidance a moderate reform of the church services and organiza- 
tion in Saxony was now carried out. The mass service in Latin 
was replaced by a service in the German tongue, in which preach- 
ing and congregational singing were given prominent places. 
Luther himself composed some of the finest hymns in the German 
language. Bishops and archbishops were replaced by officers 
called "superintendents," whose functions were wholly ecclesias- 
tical. The doctrines of the Lutheran Church were ably set 
forth by Luther's friend and Wittenberg colleague, Philip 
Melanchthon (me-lank'thun). From Saxony the movement 
spread to most of the states of North Germany. Even South 
Germany was for a time profoundly affected. Wherever the 
Reformation was established, monasteries and nunneries were 
dissolved, and the church property, beyond what was needed 
for the support of the new faith, passed into the hands of the 
secular rulers. The opportunity which the Reformation afforded 
to princes and cities to despoil the church was undoubtedly 
one cause of its rapid spread. 

D. The Reformation Checked 

The further spread of the Reformation was checked, and many 

nobles alienated from it, by the outbreak (in 1524) of a great 

363. Revolt revolt of the peasants in southern and western Germany. 

of the Ger- j^ part this revolt was due to the general unsettling 

ants (1524- caused by the religious agitation. Its fundamental cause, 

1525) however, was the long-standing grievances of the peasants 

and of the lower classes in the towns. Their demands were 

formulated in a series of Twelve Articles, which may be summed 

up as follows : — 

1. Each parish should have the right to choose its own minister, and 

to dismiss him when it wished. 

2. The peasants should be freed from the personal bondage of serfdom. 

3. The dues to their lords and to the clergy should be reduced. 



THE REFORMATION CHECKED 



331 



Luther, to whom religious reform was of first importance, 
feared to see it complicated with questions of social and political 
revolution. Moreover, he denied the right of men under any 
circumstances to revolt against their lawful rulers. Accordingly, 
he urged the nobles to root out the rebellion by the sword. The 
revolt was put down in 1525 with pitiless cruelty, more than 
a hundred thousand peasants being slain in battle or executed. 
The peasants of Germany then sank into a state of oppression 
exceeding anything known elsewhere in western Europe.^ 

In the same year (1525) Luther, the ex-monk, showed his 
disbelief in the binding nature of monastic vows by marrying 
Catherine von Bora, an ex-nun. This step marks Luther's 364- 
definite rejection of the requirement of celibacy for the juarriage 
clergy. Ultimately this proved an advantage to his (1525) 
cause, but at the time this marriage of a monk shocked many 
sober minds. 

Erasmus, who had been accused of "laying the egg that 
Luther hatched," persisted in maintaining an attitude of neu- 
trality toward the Reformation. He disapproved of gg_ ^^^j. 
Luther's violence of language and action, and had little tude of 
sympathy with Protestant dogmatism. "I dislike these ^^^^^ 
gospelers on many accounts," he wrote in 1528, "but chiefly 
because through their agency literature everywhere languishes, 

1 In part Luther's attitude is to be explained by the violent proclamations issued 
by some of the more reckless peasant leaders. "Arise! fight the battle of the 
Lord!" reads one of these. "On! On! On! The wicked tremble when they hear 
of you. On ! On I On ! Be pitiless ! although Esau gives you fair words (Genesis, 
xxxiii) . Heed not the groans of the godless ; they will beg, weep, and entreat you 
for pity like children. Show them no mercy, as God commanded Moses (Deut. 
vii), and as He has revealed the same to us. Rouse up the towns and villages; 
above all rouse the miners. On ! On ! On ! while the fire is burning ; let not the 
blood cool on your swords ! Smite pinkepank on the anvil of Nimrod ! Overturn 
their towers to the foundations ; while one of them lives you will not be free from the 
fear of man ! While they reign over you it is of no use to speak of the fear of God ! 
On! while it is day! God is with you!" — (Lindsay, Luther and the German 
Reformation, 184-185.) But in general we may say with Lindsay that the peasants' 
"moderation in revenging wrongs by bloodshed forms a striking contrast to the 
horrible blood bath into which the conquering princes plunged almost every district 
of Germany when the revolt was overcome." {Luther, 178.) 



332 THE GERMAN REFORMATION 

disappears, lies drooping, and perishes. They love good cheer 
and a wife, and for other things they care not a straw." The 
bitterness of contending sects and the clash of arms overbore 
his plea for reason, moderation, and toleration. He died in 
1536, but of harmony with all parties. Other scholars also, 
who had led in attacking the abuses in the church, returned to 
the ancient fold when reform became revolution. 

From 15 21 to 1530, as has been said, Charles V was con- 
tinuously absent from Germany. He was engaged in a series 

366. Wars of wars with the king of France for the duchy of Milan, to 
of Charles which both laid claim. The Pope feared Spanish rule 
France in Milan more than French, because Charles V already 
(1521-1529) possessed the kingdom of Naples. Accordingly, he 

actively aided Francis I, and Charles thereupon cooled 
in his zeal to crush the Lutheran movement. In 1525 a 
great victory at Pavia (pa-ve'a) gave Charles possession not 
only of Milan but also of the person of his rival, the French king. 
Francis I then agreed to a treaty in which he surrendered his 
claims in Italy as the price of his release. But no sooner was 
he freed than he repudiated the treaty, and war was renewed. 

In 1527 the Emperor's army in Italy, which was unpaid and 

largely composed of Germans of Lutheran sympathies, revolted 

Walker ^^^ plundered Rome. The destruction wrought was 

Reformation, enormous. The agony of this event "marked the end 

^^ of the gay, easy-going, artistic, pleasure-loving Rome of 

the Renaissance." It forced the Pope to abandon the French 

alliance and to adopt a policy more favorable to Charles V. 

In a second peace (1529) Francis again renounced his claims 

in Italy and paid a heavy indemnity. 

Each principality and city of Germany, meanwhile, dealt 
with the question of religion in its own way. Some held fast 

367. Origin to the old faith, some adopted the new. As a result 
of Protes-'"^ °^ Charles's success in Italy, the representatives of the 
tant (1529) Catholic faith were able to take a more decided stand at a 

Diet held at Spires in 1529. A decree was there passed which 
demanded the carrying out of the Edict of Worms. Against 



THE REFORMATION CHECKED 333 

this decree the Lutheran princes and cities issued the protest 
that won for them the familiar name of "Protestant." For- 
tunately for them, the Turks, who had overrun Hungary, now 
advanced (in 1529) to the siege of Vienna. Charles had to 
call upon both Protestants and Catholics to resist this foe, 
and the followers of Luther thus obtained a longer tolerance. 

In 1530 Charles appeared in person at a Diet which met in 
Augsburg. The Protestants, in their attempt to justify their 
innovations, presented to him the Augsburg Confession, — 368. The 
the first great Protestant creed. It was the work of confess'ion 
Luther's colleague, Melanchthon. It attempted to show (1530) 
that in fundamental beliefs the Protestants were at one with 
the Roman Church, dissenting only from its abuses. 

1. It repudiated clerical celibacy, confession, fasts, penances, monastic 

vows, the temporal power of the clergy, and the sacrificial char- 
acter of the mass (that is, the doctrine that Christ's sacrifice on 
the cross is renewed each time the mass is celebrated). 

2. It affirmed the doctrine of justification by faith, and implied a 

rejection of the power of the priest as a mediator between God 
and man. 

3. It distinguished sharply between the views of Luther and those of 

the more radical reformers, rejecting the latter. 

4. It sought to conciliate the Roman party by nowhere expressly 

denying the headship of the Pope or the doctrine of transubstan- 
tiation. 

It was impossible, however, to reconcile the differences be- 
tween the two parties. The Catholics being in the majority, 
it was ordered that the Protestants must make their 369. Sup- 
submission within five months. The long-expected reli- pro^teTtantj 
gious war again seemed about to begin, and in anticipation delayed 
of it the Protestants formed an alliance called the League of 
Schmalkalden. * But again Charles found his hands tied 
by troubles, with the Turks and by renewed war with France. 
It was not until 1546 — twenty-five years after the issuing of 
the Edict of Worms — that Charles found himself free to attempt 
the forcible suppression of the new beliefs. 



334 THE GERMAN REFORMATION 

Four months before the final struggle began, Luther passed 
peacefully away, at Eisleben, the place of his birth (February, 

370. 1546). The Schmalkaldic War, as Charles's attack 
die War ^ ' ^po^ the Protestants was called, ended with the battle 
(1546-1547) of Miihlberg (April, 1547), in which the elector of Sax- 
ony and the landgrave of Hesse were defeated and taken 
prisoners. The collapse of Protestantism seemed complete. 

But again Charles's hand was stayed in dealing with German 
heresy. This time the check was administered by the Pope 

371. New himself, who was filled with alarm at the Emperor's too 

*^i®"^^*|®^ rapid victories. He adjourned the church council (which 

of Charles 

V (1547- 3,t Charles's request had been assembled at Trent to hear 

1552) the Protestant demands) to the papal city of Bologna, 

where it might be more fully under the Pope's control (1547). 
After four years of diplomatic struggle, Charles secured the 
return of the council to Trent, but was then suddenly con- 
fronted by a dangerous political and religious combination. 
Besides the chief Protestant princes of Germany, the alliance 
included the Catholic king of France, Henry II, who promised 
financial aid to the rebels on condition that he be allowed to 
take possession of certain German fortresses on the border of 
France. Charles was taken unprepared at Innsbruck, in the 
Tyrolese Alps, and saved himself only by a hasty flight. 

Wearied by a lifetime of struggle, Charles now gave up the 
contest. A truce was concluded, which in 1555 was converted 

„ into the Religious Peace of Augsburg. Catholics and 

372. Peace P 00 

of Augsburg Protestants alike longed for peace, and were ready to pur- 
(1555) chase it at the cost of some sort of toleration for the opposite 

party. The principle adopted was that expressed in the Latin 
phrase cujus regio, ejus religio, which meant that the rulers 
of each principality and free city might establish at their option 
either the Catholic or the Lutheran worship, leaving to dissen- 
tients the right to emigrate. For more than half a century 
this treaty gave repose to Germany. It contained two fatal de- 
fects, however, which ultimately brought about a new reli- 
gious war : (i) There was no protection promised to Protestants 



THE REFORMATION CHECKED 



335 



NORTH S £ ^ ^ev.vvf^,..,^^ r^r,m, r ^■■■■■ 




f Extent of the Protestant Movement in Germany, 1555 

other than Lutherans, although Calvinism (§ 381) was already- 
beginning to be of importance. (2) There was still room left, 
as time passed, for bitter disputes concerning the ownership of 
church lands secularized by Protestants. 

In the negotiation of this peace Charles V took no personal 
part. In 1555 and 1556 he abdicated his many crowns and 
retired to a monastery in Spain, where he died in 1558. 373. Ab- 
He was cold, calculating, far-sighted, patient. It was his charles V 
fate to rule two diverse lands, Spain and Germany, at the (1556) 
most diflEicult moment of European history. His son Philip II 
(1556-1598) succeeded him as king of Spain and the Two 
Sicilies, and lord of Milan, the Netherlands, and the Spanish 
colonies, — but not (in spite of Charles's efforts) as Emperor. 

The office of Emperor, by choice of the electors, passed to 
Charles's brother, Ferdinand I (1556-1564). He united to the 
archduchy of Austria the kingdoms of Bohemia and Hungary, 
which he acquired by election of the nobles and in fulfillment 



336 THE GERMAN REFORMATION 

of ancient treaties. After 1556 there were thus two Hapsburg 

houses, — the one in Spain, lasting until the extinction of its 

374. Divi- male line in 1 700, and the other in Germany, which con 

H^'^sbur ^ tinues in the Austrian rulers to the present time. The 

possessions imperial dignity and the elective kingships of Bohemii 

and Hungary made the Austrian Hapsburg house one of the 

greatest of European powers. 

The extent to which Protestantism by 1555 had spread in 
Germany and neighboring lands is indicated on the map on 
P _ page 335. In many respects the Reformation age was 
suits of the "the most striking period in religious history since the 
Reformation ^^^g ^f ^j^g ^^^.jy church." Doubtless the causes of the 
reform movement are not entirely to be found in laudable 
instincts for higher spiritual life and the cultivation of the 
human intellect ; and its course does not show all zeal, holiness, 
and religion on one side, and tyranny, ignorance, and relic 
worship on the other. The immediate effects of the Reforma- 
tion, too, were not altogether what the reformers had ex- 
pected. Luther's later life was embittered by the excesses of 
radical reformers, and by the moral decay and theological bicker- 
ings which Protestant Germany experienced. Nevertheless, 
for Protestants the movement brought independence of religious 
thought, individual responsibility, and a freer life. For Catho- 
lics it developed more zeal and love for the old faith, and hastened 
the adoption of the reformatory measures within the church 
which we shall see enacted in the Council of Trent. 

It should be noted, finally, that although the Reformation 
rests on an appeal to the right of private judgment as against 
the authority of the church, the reformers were far from willing 
to concede this right to others. Religious freedom, there- 
fore, followed only indirectly from the Reformation. Tolera- 
tion in religion, "the noblest gift of four centuries," came 
in spite of, and not because of, the intentions of the reform- 
ers. It was a natural result of the existence of conflict- 
ing sects, no one of which was strong enough to overcome 
the others. 



<T>; 



TOPICS AND KKFKRENCES 337 

IMPORTANT DATES 
7. Luther's theses against indulgences. 
.519. Charles V elected Emperor. 
t20. Luther burns the Pope's bull of ezcommimication. 
. The Diet of "Worms condemns Luther. 
,. Their •* protest " gives Lutherans the name Protestants. 
.530. The Augsbiu-g Confession. 
1546-1547. The Schmalkaldic War. 
-•^55. Religious Peace of Augsburg. 
j6. Abdication of Charles V. 

TOPICS AND REFERENCES 
Suggestive Topics. — (i) Did the cause of the Reformation lie more in 
ther or in the general state of things? (2) What caused the develop- 
.aent of Luther's views from the position he held in the Ninety-Jive Theses 
to that shown at the Diet of Worms ? (3) Was the cause o£ the peasants 
in their revolt just or unjust ? (4) Is Luther to be blamed for opposing them ? 
(5) Why did Erasmus refuse to join Luther? (6) How did Charles's 
foreign wars aid the Reformation ? (7) How did the Turks aid the cause 
of the Reformation? (8) What is the place of Melanchthon in tlic history 
of the German Reformation? (9) How far was the Reformation directed 
against observances and how far against doctrines? (10) What was the 
condition in which Germany was left by the peace of Augsburg ? 

■ Search Topics. — (i) Religious Lii'e in Germany on the Eve of the 
Reformation. Lindsay, History of the Reformation, I, 127-157; Beard, 
Martin Luther, 54-65; Robinson, Readings in European History, 11, ch. 
xxvi. — (2) Luther's Early Life (to 1517). Lindsay, Z.«/Acr,Q-5 2; Beard, 
Luther, 116-165; Catholic Encyclopedia, IX, 438-442. — (3) Indulgences 
and Luther's Theses. Creighton, History of the Papacy, Bk. VI, ch. iii; 
Lindsay, Luther, 53-74; Lindsay, Rcf urination, J, 216-233; Catholic En- 
cyclopedia, VII, 783-788. — (4) The Diet of Worms. Lindsay, Luther, 
127-132; Jacobs, Luther, 186-197; Henderson, Short History of Germany, 
\, 263-284. — (5) Luther's Marriage and Home Life. Lindsay, Luther, 

10-212; Jacobs, Luther, 263-267, 394-406. — (6) The Peasants' W^vr. 
■ ■jebohm. Era of the Protestant Revolution, Pt. II, ch. v; Lindsay, Luther, 
i69-i89; Lindsay, Reformation, I, 3^4-339; Catholic Encyclopedia, XI, 
597-599- — (7) Luther and Melanchthon. Walker, Reformation, 100- 
[106, 172-176, 182-188; Henderson, Short History, I, 285-289. 

General Reading. — Lindsay's Luther is the best brief life of the re- 
former; the lives by McGiffert and Preserved Smith are also excellent. 
The volumes by Lindsay and by Walker are the best general histories in 
Knglish of the Reformation. Janssen's Germany at the Close of the Middle 
Ages is an excellent work written from the Catholic standpoint. 




038 



^^^u^ 



CHAPTER XVIII 

THE REFORMATION IN SWITZERLAND AND GREAT BRITAIN, 
AND THE COUNTER REFORMATION 

A. The Reformation in Switzerland 

The Reformation in German Switzerland began, independently 
of Luther, with the labors of Ulrich Zwingli (tsving'le; born 

376. Char- 1484). The son of a prosperous peasant, he received a 
Swiss°Ref- Sood education, and grew into his reform views without 
ormttioa either the material or the spiritual struggle which shaped 

Luther's character. He represents the humanistic culture de- 
rived from Erasmus more than does Luther. I'he reformation 
which he carried out was more logical, and also more radical, 
than that of the Saxon reformer. Whereas Luther wished to pre- 
serve all that was not positively contrary to Scripture, Zwingli 
rejected everything which was not commanded by the Bible. 
Zwingli — anticipating Calvin — also introduced a rigid church 
discipline, under which playing games, swearing, and tavern 
frequenting were severely punished. 

Zwingli's work as a reformer began in 15 18 with an attack 
upon indulgences and pilgrimages. His appointment, late in 

377, the same year, as preacher at the cathedral of Zurich, 
ZwUgli's enabled him to secure a wider hearing for his " evangelical " 
Zurich views. Because the Swiss cantons were self-governing re- 
<i5i8-is29) publics, every step of the Reformation there was accom- 
panied by public debates between the Catholics and reformers, 
with the people sitting as judges. After such a debate between 

y, J, Zwingli and his opponents, in 1523, the magistrates of 

Reform'aiion, Zurfch gave their approval to his work. "Pictures, cruci- 

'5' fixes, and images were removed from the city churches, 

relics were burned, holy water was done away with, organs 

340 



THE REFORMATION IN SWITZERLAND 341 

silenced, and frescoed walls whitewashed, as an effective method 
of making a tabula rasa [clean sweep] of the symbols of the older 
worship." Extensive changes were also made in the services and 
government of the church. From Zurich the reformation spread 
to the cities of Bern and Basel, and to other Swiss cantons. 

Zwingli was more of a statesman than Luther. His mind 
formed projects of a union of all the opponents of Charles V. 
Luther had no liking for such political alliances, and 378. Con- 
moreover distrusted Zwingli's theological views, especially ^fth^Luther 
on the Lord's Supper. Both rejected transubstantiation (1529) 
(§ 87) ; but Luther believed that the body of Christ was 
physically present in the sacrameht along with the bread and 
wine (consubstantiation), while Zwingli, interpreting the words 
of Christ "This is my body " to mean "This signifies my body," 
taught that Christ was present only in a symbolical sense. 

In 1529 a conference between the parties was held at Marburg, 
with a view to bringing about a union between them. Luther 
took his stand on the letter of the text, and with chalk wrote 
the words of Christ (in Latin) on the table before him, Hoc est 
corpus meum. From their literal meaning he would not budge. 
He even refused to take Zwingli's hand in token of fellowship, 
saying that the Swiss reformers were "of another spirit." This 
failure to agree was unfortunate, for a union of all Protestants 
was sorely needed to meet threatening dangers. A lack of 
political insight, a hasty temper, and some measure of intolerance 
were weaknesses intertwined with Luther's strength. 

The wealthy and populous Swiss cantons embraced the cause 
of the reformers ; but the five forest cantons remained zealously 
Catholic. In 1531 war broke out between the Catholic jj^g 

and. the Protestant cantons. At Cappel the troops hastily Swiss war 
levied by Zurich were totally defeated by a larger force ^^53i; 
from the forest cantons, and among the slain was numbered 
Zwingli himself. A peace was then made whereby each canton 
was left free to do as it liked in religious matters. This was 
really a victory for the Catholic party, which soon secured a 
majority in the federal Diet. 



342 



THE REFORMATION 




John Calvin 
From an old print 



The work which ZwingH began at Zurich was continued by 
John Calvin at Geneva.^ As organizer and systematizer, 
8 Earlv Calvin was the greatest of 
life of the reformers and his influ- 

Caivin gj^^g ^g^g most widespread. 

Calvin was born in northern 
France, in 1509; he was thus a 
generation younger than Luther 
and Zwingli. He was prepared at 
French universities for the profes- 
sion of law, but determined to de- 
vote himself to a life of scholarship. 
Then he fell under the influence of 
certain French reformers ; and in 
1535 he was forced to leave the 
French kingdom, a fugitive and an 
exile. 

A year later (1536) Calvin hap- 
pened to pass through the French-speaking city of Geneva, 
which had recently thrown off the control of its feudal lords and 
gj Calvin s-ccepted the Reformation. The urging of the Protestant 
at Geneva leaders induced him to remain and take up the active 
(IS3 15 4) duties of reformer in that turbulent little republic. With 
the exception of two years of exile, Geneva was thenceforth the 
scene of Calvin's labors, until his death in 1564. For a quarter 
of a century he controlled almost completely its civil and ecclesi- 
astical government. Two important features of his system were : 
(i) the republican constitution which he gave to the church ; 
and (2) the rigid supervision exercised over manners and morals. 
In the Calvinistic or Presbyterian system of church govern- 
ment, as it was fully developed in France, Scotland, and the 
382. Pres- Netherlands, control of the church is vested in represent- 
byterianism ^tive councils called "synods" and ''presbyteries," 

^ Although Geneva did not finally enter the Swiss Confederation until 1815, it 
was for centuries in alliance with leading Swiss cantons. The history of its reforma- 
tion belongs naturally, therefore, with that in Switzerland. 



THE REFORMATION IN GREAT BRITAIN 343 

which are made up of the '" ministers " and of "elders" (pres- 
byters) elected by the entire church membership. Calvin's 
ideas of church discipline were extremely severe. From him and 
his predecessor, Zwingli, come those "Puritan" ideals of worship 
and life which influenced so profoundly Scotland, England, and 
America. Neglect of public worship, luxury in dress, gambling 
and dancing, became crimes severely dealt with. Blasphemy 
was regarded as worthy of capital punishment. In one in- 
stance a child was beheaded at Geneva for having struck his 
parents. In dealing with what he considered to be heresy, 
Calvin was as uncompromising as the Church of Rome. The 
greatest blot on his fame is the burning, with his approval, of a 
brilliant but unbalanced writer named Servetus, on a charge of 
heresy and blasphemy. This act, though strongly condemned 
by modern opinion, was in harmony with the views, both 
Catholic and Protestant, of that age. 

Under Calvin's leadership the Genevan church became the 
model for Protestant churches in many lands. His views were 
embodied in a book call the Institutes of the Christian q s d 
Religion, which became the leading theological work of of Calvin's 
the age. The reformation in France, the Netherlands, *^®^^ 
and Scotland was thoroughly Calvinistic. In England, and the 
English colonies in America, civil as well as religious institu- 
tions were greatly affected by Calvin's teachings. 

B. The Reformation in Great Britain 

The EngHsh Reformation was largely the work of the Tudor 

dynasty, which ascended the throne in 1485 at the close of the 

Wars of the Roses. Henry VII, the first of the Tudor line, 384. Eng- 

was able, as we have seen (§ 311), to make the crown l^^^^^*?®/ 

1 . Tx- \o v^ /7 Henry VII 

almost despotic. His son, Henry VIII (1509-1547), was and Henry 

educated in the atmosphere of the Renaissance, but turned ^^^^ 
his attention as king to plans of foreign war. His alliance was 
eagerly sought by both Francis I and Charles V ; and his minis- 
ter, Cardinal Wolsey, by playing off one against the other, 



344 



THE REFORMATION 



raised England to a position of importance among European 
nations. A book which Henry wrote against Luther led the 
Pope to give him the title (still borne by English sovereigns) 
of " Defender of the Faith." A few years later Henry embarked 
upon a course which ended in separating England as a nation 
from the Roman Catholic Church. 

The English Reformation differs from that in continental 

countries in two ways: (i) It was begun and its. course con- 

385. Char- trolled by the government, the people for the most part 

Reformation passively following. (2) The English Church after the 

in England Reformation was more of a compromise between the old 

and the new religions, its doctrine being Protestant, while its 

ritual and government were largely Catholic. 

The ground for the Reformation in England had long been 
prepared. Political resistance to the papacy was embodied in 
386 The ^^^ Statutes of Pro visors and Praemunire (§ 318). The 
ground long labors of Wyclif had weakened the hold of the church 
prepare upon the people. Here, as elsewhere, the Renaissance 

. was a powerful influence. Printing was introduced by William 
Caxton in 1477. John Colet (died 1519; § 348), the son of a 
wealthy London merchant, played the chief part in introduc- 
ing a sounder knowledge of Greek and Latin literature. Owing, 
perhaps, to the influence of Savonarola, whom he may have 
met in Italy, Colet advocated a moderate and enlightened 
reform of the church. He furthered this by his sermons as 
dean of St. Paul's cathedral in London, and by a school for 
boys which he founded in connection with the cathedral. 
Erasmus, the great Dutch scholar (§ 349), spent some years in 
England, and was influenced by Colet to take up his studies 
on the New Testament and the church fathers. Sir Thomas 
More, one of the wittiest and most lovable Englishmen of his 
day, was also a member of this group of scholars and Catholic 
reformers. His advanced ideas on social reform are shown in 
his Utopia, a book in which he describes an ideal commonwealth. 
Many factors thus cooperated to prepare England for a religious 
change. 



THE REFORMATION IN GREAT BRITAIN 



345 



The actual separation from Rome came from the desire of 
Henry VIII to have his marriage with Catherine of Aragon, 
with whom he had Hved for eighteen years, declared void, 387, The 
in order that he might marry Anne Boleyn (bool'in). Reformation 
with whom he was infatuated. When the Pope refused Henry VIII 
to grant the annulment of his marriage, Henry obtained (^529-1547) 
his divorce from a court of the English Church, presided over 
by Cranmer, his archbishop of Canterbury. In 1533 he pro- 
claimed Anne queen, in defiance of the Pope. 

In November, 1534, the separation from Rome was made com- 
plete by the Act of Supremacy, passed by Parliament. This 
declared the English king to be "the only supreme head in earth 
of the Church of England," the authority which the Pope had 
exercised being divided between the king and the archbishop 
of Canterbury. The clergy had already been induced by threat 
to acknowledge Henry as head of the English Church. Par- 
liament at the same time reformed many practical abuses in 
the church. Also, the 
Bible was translated into 
English, and printed 
copies were placed in the 
churches. 

Another important 
step was taken in the dis- 
solution of the monas- 
teries and the confisca- 
tion of their property, 
carried out from 1536 to 
1540. Two important 
results followed from 
this : (i) The abbots 
were removed from the 

House of Lords, and the Armor of Henry VIII 

power of the ecclesiasti- in Tower of London. Belongs to period of feudal 
Cal peers was reduced. de^dence, when armor was largely for show, 
^ and tournaments were usually harmless spec- 

(2) The nobles and tacles. 




346 THE REFORMATION 

gentry who received grants of monastic land became zealous sup- 
porters of the Reformation. 

While repudiating the Pope's headship, Henry clung tenaciously 
to Catholic doctrine. He put to death impartially those who 
388 Tyr- denied his supremacy in the church, and those who held 
anny of Protestant views. Sir Thomas More was perhaps the 

^^^^ noblest of those who were sent to the block for refusing 

to acknowledge the king's supremacy. Henry was equally 
ready to punish other offenders against his arbitrary will. Cardi- 
nal Wolsey, who had been deprived of power because of his ina- 
bility to secure a papal annulment of the king's first marriage, 
escaped imprisonment in the Tower, and probably execution, 
only by his timely death. His successor in the government 
was beheaded for negotiating an unsatisfactory marriage for 
his royal master. Henry was six times married, two of his 
queens being divorced, and two (including Anne Boleyn) exe- 
cuted for misconduct. He was a strong monarch, under whom 
England prospered. But he was tyrannical and cruel, and 
many thousand persons — rebels, Protestants, and defenders 
of the papal headship — perished by his orders. 

Henry VIII left one son and two daughters, each by a dif- 
ferent marriage (see genealogy, p. 349). His son Edward VI, 
g pyj._ aged nine years, succeeded him. In this reign the Reforma- 
ther refor- tion was carried by the ministers of the government into 
umierEd- ^^^ -^^^^ ^^ doctrine and worship. Under the guidance of 
ward VI Cranmer, archbishop of Canterbury, a Book of Common 
(1 547-1 553) pj-g^ygj. [^ English was prepared, to take the place of the 
Catholic "mass book" in Latin. Church doctrine was formu- 
lated in forty-two articles. The clergy were permitted to marry, 
church images were pulled down, stained glass windows in the 
churches were broken, pictures of saints and angels were white- 
washed over, and many of the old customs and holy days were 
suppressed. These changes went beyond the desires of the 
nation, and rebellions broke out, which were easily suppressed. 
The young king, from whose precocious intelligence much was 
expected, died at the age of fifteen. 



THE REFORMATION IN GREAT BRITAIN > 347 

\ 

By hereditary right, and by a will left by Henry VIII, Edward's 

half-sister Mary, daughter of Catherine of Aragon, was nejct 

in succession. She was a Catholic, and certain nobles 390!, Lady 

plotted to secure the succession for Lady Jane Grey, a J^'^® ^''^y- 
f' . 1 r 1 1 1 1 -^ , the " nine 

Protestant girl of noble character, who was a grand- days 

daughter of Henry VIII's younger sister. The attempt queen" 

failed, and those implicated in it, including Lady Jane and her 

young husband, were executed. 

When Queen Mary secured the throne, in 1553, she restored 
the Catholic religion and the authority of the Pope over the 
English Church. She found it impossible, however, to Catho- 

restore to the church the monastery lands which were He restora- 
in private hands. She was greeted at her accession with A^gg^ 
great rejoicing ; when she died five years later, she was Mary (1553- 
hated by almost all her subjects. This was due, not to ^^^ ■* 
the fact that she restored the Catholic religion, for the majority 
of the English people were willing to accept the old worship, the 
old belief, and even the authority of the Pope. It was very 
largely due to her marriage with a foreigner, Philip II of Spain, 
the son and successor of Charles V. National feeling was ex- 
ceedingly strong in England, and Englishmen were foolishly 
jealous of all foreigners. But stronger than jealousy was the 
fear that the Spanish alliance would make England merely a 
province of Philip's vast dominions, and that thereby English- 
men would lose their liberties and England her independence. 
Another cause of Mary's unpopularity was her persecution of 
Protestants, which appeared to her unbalanced mind to be a 
sacred duty. Cranmer, archbishop of Canterbury, who had 
played the chief part in divorcing her mother, was among the 
288 Protestant martyrs. In foreign affairs Mary sided with 
Spain against France. Through delay in sending aid, she 
allowed the French (in 1558) to take Calais, — the last of the 
English possessions in France. A few months later her unhappy 
life ended, and her half-sister Elizabeth, daughter of Anne 
Boleyn, came to the throne. 

The reign of Elizabeth (1558-1603), alike in its economic 



348 



THE REFORMATION 



legislation, its foreign policy, and its religious interest, was 
one of the most important in English history. Its success was 
392. Reii- due in part to the ability of her councilors, especially Lord 
gious settle- Burghley (or Burleigh) . Still more was it due to Eliza- 
Elizabeth beth's own character. She had her father's strength and 
(1558-1603) imperious will, with her mother's vanity and fondness for 
display. Above all, she was devoted to England's interest. 

Elizabeth was without strong religious feeling either way. 
She had been educated as a Protestant, but had conformed to 
the Catholic religion during her sister's reign. When she her- 




Great Seal of Queen Elizabeth 

"Elizabeth by God's grace queen of England, France, and Ireland ; Defender of the 

Faith" 



self came to power, she repealed Mary's Catholic statutes, al- 
though she refused to restore unmodified her brother's religious 
legislation. The Book of Common Prayer and the Thirty- 
Nine Articles, in which are embodied the ritual and much of the 
doctrine of- the Church of England,- were issued by Elizabeth. 
They were based on the similar works of Edward VI, but so 

History of altered as to "give less offense to religious conservatives. 

England, Elizabeth sought to include Catholics and Protestants 

in one national church, shaped by the royal will. "To 

this day," says the historian Macaulay, "the constitution, 

the doctrines, and the services of the [English] church re- 



ch. i 



THE REFORMATION IN GREAT BRITAIN 349 

tain the visible marks of the compromise from which she 
sprang. She occupies a middle position between the churches 
of Rome and Geneva. Her doctrinal confessions and dis- 
courses, composed by Protestants, set forth principles of the- 
ology in which Calvin and Knox [§§ 380, 393] would have ' 
found scarcely a word to disapprove. Her prayers and thanks- 
givings, derived from the ancient breviaries, are very generally 
such that Cardinal Fisher or Cardinal Pole [leaders of the Roman 
Catholic party] might have heartily joined in them." 

Outward conformity to Elizabeth's settlement was enforced 
upon all classes by two great statutes passed by Parliament, — 
the Statute of Supremacy, and the Statute of Uniformity. In 
large measure this settlement met with acceptance, though 
extremists of both communions caused trouble. Extreme Catho- 
lics claimed, on the ground of the nullity of Henry's marriage to 
Anne Boleyn, that the crown should go to Mary Queen of Scots,^ 
and plotted Elizabeth's overthrow. More than 175 Catholic 
priests and laymen were put to death in her reign for refusing 
to conform to the new religion. Protestant extremists, called 
Puritans, on the other hand, were intensely loyal, but were dis- 
satisfied that Elizabeth did not go further in religious change. 
Many of them had fled to the Continent during Mary's perse- 
cutions, and now returned filled with the ideas of Calvin and the 
Genevan Reformation. In spite of Elizabeth's attempts at 
repression, their number and importance increased, until at 
the end of the reign they constituted a considerable party. 



1 The claims of Mary Queen of Scots, which she transmitted to the Stuart line, 
are shown in the following genealogy : — 

(i) Henry VII (1485-1509) 

I — ^ I 

Margaret (2) Henry VIII (1509-1547) Mary 

(m. James IV of Scotland) I (grandmother of 

I Lady Jane Grey) 



James V of Scotland 1 

,, ^ I ,„ (4) Mary (5) Ei^izabeih (3) Edward VI 

Mary Queen of Scots (1553-1558) (1558-1603) (i547-iSS3) 



I (daughter of (daughter of (son of 

(6) James I Catherine Anne Boleyn) Jane Seymoiu:) 

of England of Aragon) 

{1603-1625) 



3 so 



THE REFORMATION 



In Scotland (unlike England) the Reformation was the work 

of the people, in opposition to the government. It was ac- 

Ref- complished, and a Presbyterian settlement established 

ormation (about 1560), largely through the efforts of John Knox. 

in CO an jj^ ^^^^ ^ ^^^ ^^ intense force and fearlessness, who had 

adopted rigidly Calvinistic views during several years spent in 

exile at Geneva. The ruler of Scotland at this time was Mary 

Queen of Scots. After being 
reared in France, and becoming 
for a short time the bride of a 
French king, she had returned 
after her husband's death to her 
own kingdom (1560). The Scots 
at this time were rude, ignorant, 
and backward in civilization ; 
while Mary was pleasure-loving, 
vivacious, and an ardent Catho- 
lic. Her second marriage, with 
her cousin Darnley, a Scottish 
nobleman, proved unhappy ; and 
within two years he was mur- 
dered. Whether Mary was con- 
cerned in the deed or not, she al- 
lowed herself in a few months to 
marry the chief author of the crime. A revolt followed, in 
which Mary was forced to abdicate, and her infant son became 
King James VI. Less than a year later (in 1568) Mary escaped 
from captivity, fled to England, and threw herself upon the gen- 
erosity of Elizabeth. 

The English queen, although she disliked to countenance 
rebellion, could not forego the advantage which this step gave 
394. Eliza- her against one who was a claimant of her throne. For 
Mary^of nineteen years Mary was kept in England in honorable 
Scotland captivity. Plots were on foot with the purpose of de- 
throning Elizabeth and setting Mary on the English throne, 
through the aid of a Spanish invasion. The complicity of 




Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots 
From a painting in Edinburgh 



THE REFORMATION IN GREAT BRITAIN 



35^ 



Mary in one of these, which EngUsh law made a capital ojffense, 
was at last proved. Elizabeth reluctantly signed Mary's 
death warrant, and early in 1587 the Queen of Scots was be- 
headed. She went to her death with the courage of a martyr. 
"Cease to lament," said she to one of her weeping attendants, 
"for you shall now see a final end to Mary Stuart's troubles. 
I pray you take this message when you go — that I die true to 
my religion, to Scotland, and to France." 

In Ireland the Reformation failed to secure a hold upon the 
people. This was largely due to an antagonism between the 
native Irish and the English government, which intro- ^j^^ 

duced the Reformation. Ireland had been annexed to Reformation 
England by King Henry II. But until the time of the '"^ ^''^^^"'^ 
Tudor sovereigns, the English government had made little 
effort to exercise authority 
there, save in a narrow dis- 
trict about Dublin, known 
as the English Pale, where 
the land was held by nobles 
of English descent. Out- 
side the Pale most of Ire- 
land was in the hands of 
half-barbarous Irish tribes 
under native chiefs; and 
strife between different 
tribes and between the 
English and Irish was in- 
cessant. Henry VIII for 
the first time extended 
English authority over the 
whole of the island, and 
attempted to enforce upon 
Ireland English law and 
habits, together with his 
supremacy over the church. 
The Irish moriasteries, 




Cross at Monasterbrice, Ireland 

Erected in gth or loth century. Part of the 
carving on the cross represents Scriptural 
scenes. 



352 THE REFORMATION 

which were peaceful centers of rehgion and industry in a turbu- 
lent country, were suppressed. In the disturbances which fol- 
lowed many deeply venerated relics and images were de- 
stroyed. The great mass of the Irish people regarded the 
changes in the church as only a part of the tyranny of the Eng- 
lish government, and clung tenaciously both to their religion 
and their native practices. Rebellions, followed by confisca- 
tions of Irish land and its colonization by English settlers, 
occurred under both Edward and Mary; and it was not until 
the reign of Elizabeth that the subjugation of Ireland was com- 
pleted. Ferocious methods were employed in accomplishing 
this. During six months (in 1582) 30,000 men, women, and 
children perished in the province of Munster alone, chiefly from 
starvation; and half a million acres of land was seized and 
granted to Englishmen, who largely remained absentee landlords. 
The introduction of the Reformation, and the policy of settling 
English landlords in Ireland, sowed the seeds of bitterness and 
strife which have lasted to the present day. 

Chief among Elizabeth's foreign enemies was her erstwhile 

brother-in-law, Philip II of Spain. Religious differences were 

3g6. Causes only one of a number of causes for this hostility. Mary 

of war be- Queen of Scots, just before her execution, had made Philip 

land and ^^^ avenger of her death and heir to her claims to the Eng- 

Spain lish. throne. Bold sailors such as Sir Francis Drake — the 

first Englishman to circumnavigate the globe — had long been 

preying upon Spanish commerce in the New World. Finally 

there was the assistance sent to the Dutch by Elizabeth, in a 

revolt in which they were engaged against Spain (§426). This, 

indeed, was the chief factor in leading to open war between 

Philip and the English kingdom. 

The first expedition prepared by Philip II to attack England 

was prevented from sailing by Drake's daring raid into Cadiz 

397. The harbor. There he "singed the king of Spain's beard" by 

Armada burning the ships and stores gathered for the expedition. 

(1588) Next year (1588) the Great Armada set sail. This 

expedition numbered about 130 ships, nearly half of them 



THE COUNTER -REFORMATION 353 

large, high-decked vessels, crowded with soldiers. The Eng- 
lish fleet, though greater in numbers, was composed of much 
smaller vessels, but these were swifter and more easily managed. 
A running fight occurred in the English Channel and off the 
Netherlands. The superior seamanship of the English, together 
with their greater daring, gave them the advantage ; and a tem- 
pest completed the work which they began. Out of Spain's vast 
Armada, only sixty-seven vessels returned home. This victory 
ended the danger of a Catholic restoration in England by Span- 
ish arms. By weakening Spain's power of interference, it also 
made possible English colonization in America. 

In many directions, Elizabeth's reign witnessed an outburst 
of energy such as the world had never seen. In no line was this 
more true than in literature. The poet Spenser, the phi- 398, Lit- 
losopher Sir Francis Bacon, and the dramatists Shake- y^der Eliz- 
speare, Marlowe, and Ben Jonson, with many others, abeth 
made this the golden age of English letters. Such activity 
was the result of many causes, long in preparation. One of 
these was certainly the freedom of thought and the intellectual 
stimulus which came with the religious Reformation. 

C. The Counter Reformation 

While Protestantism was becoming systematized under the 
influence of Calvin, and spreading into France, England, Scot- 
land, and the Netherlands, the Catholic Church began 399- Origin 
to reform the practical evils in its organization, and pre- counter 
pared to take the aggressive. The model for this reforma- Reformation 
tion within the church was found in the Spanish Awakening 
(§ 327) carried out in Spain more than a half century before. 
After the sack of Rome by the soldiers of Charles V, in 1527, 
the political activity of the papacy was diminished. Under a 
series of reforming Popes a sincere effort was then at last made to 
do away with the long accumulation of abuses. 

One of the chief agencies of the Counter Reformation was the 
Council of Trent (§ 371). This council first assembled in 1545, 



354 THE REFORMATION 

and lasted (with an intermission of ten years) until 1563. It 
rejected private interpretation of the Scriptures, and declared 
that only the highest authority in the church, and not individ- 
ual members, could determine the meaning of its texts. The 
council also declared that the tradition of the church, equally 
with the Bible, should be used in settling religious doctrines, 
because it was held that not all the teachings of Christ are 
contained in the Bible. Moreover, the council made the Vul- 
gate (Latin) version the standard in the church. In the matter 
of reform, the council increased the authority of the bishops, 
and strengthened the whole discipline over the clergy. It made 
preaching a more important function for both bishops and parish 
priests. It also issued decrees requiring seminaries to be estab- 
lished in every diocese, for the better education and training of 
candidates for the priesthood. The result of the council's labors 
was that the Roman Catholic Church could thenceforth appeal 
to a modern, clear, and authoritative statement of its faith, and 
was thus put in a position to present a united front to Protes- 
tantism.^ 

The most aggressive force in checking the revolt from Rome 

was the Order of Jesus, popularly called the "Jesuits." This 

400. The order was founded by Ignatius Loyo'la, and sanctioned 

f^^^A^d ^y ^^^ Pope in 1540. Loyola was a high-minded Spanish 

(1540) nobleman, whose dreams of military glory were cut short 

by a wound which permanently lamed him. Thenceforth he 

1 We may here note a reform of the calendar which was discussed at this council, 
but was not authorized until 1582, when Pope Gregory XIII embodied it in a papal 
decree. The "Julian" calendar, arranged by Julius Caesar, — in which every fourth 
year was a leap year, — made the year eleven minutes, fourteen seconds too long ; 
and by the sixteenth century the difference accumulated since the year of the Coun- 
cil of Nicaea (325 a.d.) amounted to nearly ten days. The reformed or " Gregorian" 
calendar not merely struck out ten days (from October 5 to October 14, inclusive) 
from the calendar of the year 1582, but directed the omission of three leap-year days 
in every four centuries thereafter. It thus provided for keeping the calendar year 
for the future in approximate harmony with the solar year. England did not accept 
the reformed calendar until 1752. Russia, owing to its adherence to the Greek 
Church, has not yet accepted it, and is now thirteen days behind the other nations 
in its reckoning of dates. The two calendars are distinguished as "old style" (O. S.) 
and "new style" (N. S.). 



THE COUNTER REFORMATION 



355 




turned his energies to the service of the church. He sought to 
found an organization, the members of which should be bound by 
the three vows of poverty, chastity, 
and obedience, as the monks were, 
but who should not be tied down 
by minute monastic regulations. 
At the same time he adopted cer- 
tain features of military organi- 
zation, — 'requiring instant and 
implicit obedience to the commands 
of superior officers, and drilling and 
disciplining his members by spirit- 
ual exercises as soldiers are drilled 
in the handling of their weapons. 
The members were bound by a 
special vow of unquestioning obe- 
dience to the Pope. They also 
renounced the holding of all ecclesi- 
astical dignities such as bishop- 
rics. No special dress was prescribed, thus permitting dis- 
guise in hostile lands. Room was found in the organization 
for the exercise of the most varied talents, and the order en- 
listed in its services some of the ablest men of the time. One 
of its chief functions was missionary work in heathen countries ; 
and its missionaries did heroic work in carrying Christianity 
to the natives of America, and to the East Indies, Japan, and 
China. Saint Francis Xavier (zav'i-er) , who worked especially 
in the Far East, represents the highest type of missionary spirit. 
Preaching and educational work in Europe were also carried on. 
The centralized organization of the society, together with an 
elaborate system of reports to its general or head, made its work 
extremely effective.^ 

' Even in Catholic countries a strong opposition to the Jesuits arose. In part 
this was based on economic grounds, in part on opposition to their moral teach- 
ings, and in part on their pohtical activity and power. In 1750 Portugal expelled 
the members of the order from all Portuguese territory ; and France, Spain, and 
Naples soon followed suit. In 1773 the Pope was obliged, as a result of this united 



Ignatius Loyola 
From a painting in Venice 



356 THE REFORMATION 

A darker side to the Counter Reformation was the work of 
the Inquisition. This court for suppressing heresy had been 

401 Work revived and reorganized in Spain, during the Spanish 
of the In- Awakening ; and after the rise of Lutheranism it was 
quisi ion carried to other countries. PoHtical conditions and the 

temper of the French and German people prevented its getting 
any great hold in their lands; but it held despotic sway in 
Portugal and Italy, and in the widespread Spanish territories. 
The methods of this terrible court became more arbitrary than 
ever. It did its work so thoroughly that it kept heresy out 
of Italy, Spain, and other lands of southern Europe. Its tri- 
umphs, however, were secured only at the cost of great intel- 
lectual, economic, and political backwardness. 

Closely connected with the Inquisition was the censorship 
of printing. This was gradually established through legislation 

402 Cen- ^y ^^^ Council of Trent, and through papal edicts. Strict 
sorship of supervision was provided in Catholic countries over the 
printing printing and sale of books. In the case of all books deal- 
ing with religion or morals the permission of the ecclesiastical 
authorities was required previous to printing. A list of books 
called the Index of Prohibited Books was drawn up, in which were 
placed titles of books which good Catholics were not allowed 
to read. . From time to time this list has been revised, the last 
revision being published in 1900. Some of the most eminent 
philosophers, historians, and scientists have had their books 
"placed in the Index." Protestant governments also estab- 
lished a censorship of the press, the one in England lasting until 
near the end of the seventeenth century. 

The results of the Counter Reformation in strengthening 

and re invigorating the Catholic Church may be summed up 

403. The in the following passage from the work of a modern Eng- 

str"iiKth- ^^^^ historian: "By the end of the century the tables 

ened had been completely turned. Zeal, devotion, learning, 

Catholic opposition, to decree the dissolution of the Jesuit Order. In 1814, however, 
the bull dissolving the order was revoked, and the Jesuits were once more restored 
to favor in Catholic countries. 



SUMMARY VIEW OF THE REFORMATION 357 

self-sacrifice, religious enthusiasm, were now on the side of the 
church. Superior in concentration, the church presented a 
united and effective front to her enemies, and was pre- Wakeman, 
pared when the opportunity should come to initiate a Jp'^'^ncl'^^ 
crusade by the help of the Jesuits against Protestantism 43 
in Europe, while a new world was being won for her across the 
ocean by their missionary efforts." 



D. Summary View oe the Reformation H.. 

In the Protestant Reformation it was mainly the Teutonic 
nations — Switzerland, Denmark, Sweden, England, Scotland, 
and parts of Germany and the Netherlands — that re- Extent 

jected the authority of the Pope. The nations which had of the revolt 
most successfully withstood the power of imperial Rome of ^°^ 
old were the ones which now broke away from papal Rome./ 
The Romance nations — France, Spain, and Italy, which were 
most affected in language and habits by the Roman Empire — 
remained true to the papal allegiance.. The Slavic nations 
which had received Roman Christianity, such as Poland and 
Bohemia, accepted Protestantism for a time, but were later 
won back to the Catholic Church. Russia and southeastern 
Europe, which were Greek Christian or Mohammedan, were 
unaffected by the movement. 

We have considered the Reformation chiefly as an event in 
religious history. But it must not be forgotten that it was 
also a political change ; it was a revolt of the new national 40s. Its 
spirit against the control by Rome of ecclesiastical per- ^different 
sons, property, and -trials. In countries where the Ref- countries 
ormation was established, the civil power claimed those rights 
of taxation, jurisdiction, and the like which the papacy had before 
exercised. Where the governing power was a monarchy, the 
crown was strengthened; but in Switzerland, where the gov- 
ernm'ent of each canton was republican, it was the power of 
the people that was increased. The political condition of the 
different countries also determined the course which the Ref- 



358 THE REFORMATION 

ormation took. In Germany and Switzerland, where there was 
practically no central authority, a period of division and civil 
wars was followed by the definite establishment of Protestant- 
ism in some districts, and its rejection in others. In England, 
Denmark, and Sweden, where the central power was strong 
enough to carry the nation with it, the revolt from Rome was 
completely established. In France, in spite of its strong mon- 
archy, a series of religious wars followed, ending in a limited 
toleration for Protestants. But a century later this settle- 
ment was overturned, and Catholicism completely triumphed. 

IMPORTANT DATES 

1518. Zwingli begins the Reformation in Switzerland. 

1534. Henry VIII separates the English Church from Rome. 

1536. Calvin takes up the work of the Reformation at Geneva. 

1540. The Jesuit Order founded. 

1553. Catholic reaction in England begun under Queen Mary. 

1558. Accession of Elizabeth; permanence of Reformation in England 

assured. 
1563. End of the Council of Trent. 

1587. Mary Queen of Scots beheaded. 

1588. The Spanish Armada defeated. 
1603. Death of Elizabeth. 

TOPICS AND REFERENCES 

Suggestive Topics. — (i) How did the fact that Germany was a confedera- 
tion of sovereign principalities, Switzerland a league of republican cantons, 
and England a centralized monarchy, affect the outcome of the Reformation 
in each? (2) Why were the forest cantons of Switzerland more likely to 
remain Catholic? (3) Who was to blame for the failure of the Swiss and 
German reformers to unite ? (4) Compare Calvin's ideas of church govern- 
ment with those of Luther. (5) Was Luther's or Calvin's work in the 
Reformation the more important? Why? (6) Was the English Church 
Catholic or Protestant at the death of Henry VIII ? At the death of Ed- 
ward VI ? At the death of Mary ? At the death of Elizabeth ? (7) Char- 
acterize Henry VIII in your own words. (8) Compare the persecution of 
Protestants under Queen Mary with the persecution of Catholics under 
Elizabeth. (9) In what ways was Elizabeth a great ruler? (10) What 
other things besides the personality of the queen contributed to make her 



TOPICS AND REFERENCES 359 

reign memorable ? (ii)- Was Elizabeth's execution of Mary Queen of Scots 
justifiable? (12) How did the defeat of the Armada aid England's colo- 
nization of America ? (13) Why did the Council of Trent succeed in carry- 
ing through reform measures which had failed at Pisa, Constance, and 
Basel? (14) What advantages did the Jesuit Order have over earlier 
religious orders ? 

Search Topics. — -(i) Zwingli's Life and Work. Lindsay, History 
of the Reformation, II, 24-38; Walker, Reformation, 149-152; Jackson, 
Zwingli, ch. i-v; Simpson, Zwingli, chs. i-v. — (2) Calvin in Geneva, 
Walker, Calvin, ch. viii; Lindsay, Reformation, II, 102-124. — (3) Calvin 
and Servetus. Walker, Reformation, 266-269; Walker, Calvin, ch. xii; 
Schaff, History of the Christian Church, VII, ch. xvi. — (4) Comparison 
OF Luther, Zwingli, and Calvin. y^aXk^x, Reformation, 166-181, 246; 
^SiCohs, Luther, 281; Schaff, Christian Church, VII, 257-260; Henderson, 
Short History, I, 356-357. — -(5) England under Henry VIII. Terry, 
History of England, 512-559. — -(6) Suppression of the English Mon- 
asteries. Gairdner, English Church in the Sixteenth Century, ch. xi; Gas- 
quet, Henry VIII and the English Monasteries (Catholic). — (7) Queen 
Mary's Religious Policy. Green, Short History, 364-368; Lindsay, 
Reformation, 368-384; Catholic Encyclopedia, IX, 766-767. — • (8) The 
Reformation in Scotland. Walker, Reformation, 313-334; Lindsay, 
Reformation, II, 274-314. — ■ (9) Elizabeth's Religious Policy. Creigh- 
ton. Age of Elizabeth, 128-148; Green, Short History, ch. vii, sec. 3; 
Lindsay, Reformation, II, 385-420. — (10) Elizabeth and Mary Queen 
of Scots. Green, Short History, 382-392, 415-41 7 ; Creighton, Age of Eliz- 
abeth, 62-79, 100-104; Catholic Encyclopedia, IX, 764-766. — (11) The 
Spanish Armada. Green, Short History, ch. vii, sec. 6; Channing, History 
of the United States, I, 130-140, 142; Motley, History of the United 
Netherlands, II, ch. xix. — (12) The England of Elizabeth. Creigh- 
ton, Age of Elizabeth, 199-226; Green, Short History, ch. vii, sec. 5. — 
(13) Organization and Power of the Jesuits. Lindsay, Reformation, 
II, 549-563, 606-611; Walker, Reformation, 375-392; Catholic Encyclo- 
pedia, XIV, 81-84. — (14) Jesuits as Explorers and Missionaries. 
Parkman, Pioneers of France, chs. v and vi ; Parkman, Jesuits in North 
America, chs. ii, xviii. — (15) The Council of Trent. Lindsay, Reforma- 
tion, II, 564-596; Walker, Reformation, 392-400; Catholic Encyclopedia, 
XV, 30-35- 

General Reading. — The second volume of Lindsay's History of the Ref- 
ormation contains the best account of the movement outside of Germany. 
Froude's History of England from the Fall of Wolsey to the Defeat of the 
Spanish Armada (12 vols.) is a brilliant but somewhat unreliable work. 
Creighton's and Beesly's lives of Elizabeth are the best short biographies. 



CHAPTER XIX 
THE PERIOD OF RELIGIOUS WARS (1562-1648) 

A. The Huguenot Wars in France 

By the time that the Council of Trent closed, in 1563, the 
Reformation had crystallized into permanent form. Protes- 
406. A tantism had developed its characteristic doctrines ; Ca- 

reHgious tholicism had established its Counter Reformation. An 
warfare armed struggle for the mastery followed, manifesting 

itself especially in France, in the Netherlands, and in Germany. 
Political motives entered into each of these contests, but re- 
ligion played a leading part. The period may be considered 
as beginning with the Huguenot wars in France in 1562, and 
ending with the peace of Westphalia in 1648. 

The Reformation had an independent beginning in France, 

but its development and organization were largely the work of 

The Calvin and other Genevan reformers. By the middle of 

Reformation the sixteenth century, the French Protestants, or "Hugue- 

in ranee nots," possessed 2000 places of worship, and are said to 

have numbered 400,000 persons. They were drawn mainly 

from the middle and higher classes, for the lower classes, unlike 

those of Germany, remained intensely loyal to the Roman 

Church. King Francis I ^ for a time showed toleration to the 

1 Charles VIII (§ 297) was succeeded, upon his death without children, by his 
father's second cousin, Louis XII (1498-1515), the representative of the nearest 
collateral line of the house of Valois. The death of Louis XII without male children 
gave the throne to his cousin's son, Francis I, whose successors were as follows : — 

(1) Francis I (isiS-iS47) 

(2) Henry H (1547-1559) / 
m. Catherine de' Medici 

I 

I \ \ : I 

(3) Francis II (4) Charles IX (5) Henry III Francis, Duke of Alenfon 

(1559-1560) (1560-1574) (1574-1589) and Anjou (d. 1584) 



first husband of 
Mary Queen of Scots 



360 



THE HUGUENOT WARS IN FRANCE 361 

reformers, but in 1535 a policy of persecution was begun, which 
was continued in the reign of his son, Henry II. 

Under the three weak sons of Henry II, who reigned one after 
another, the power of the Huguenots grew to such a point that 
they were prepared to take up arms. Their leaders were 408. Hugue- 
great nobles like the prince of Conde (coN-da') and Ad- begun 
miral Gaspard de Coligny (c6-len'ye). Members of the (1562) 
able but upstart house of Guise (gii-ez') headed the Catholic 
party. The queen mother, Catherine de' Medici, who was a 
thoroughly unscrupulous Italian, held aloof from the Guises 
for a time on account of political jealousies ; but in the end she 
supported their policies. The wars began with an attack by 
the duke of Guise, in 1562, on a congregation of Huguenots 
assembled in a barn. . Eight separate wars are counted in the 
struggle, separated by formal treaties of peace. With the first 
three of these we need not concern ourselves. 

The peace which followed the third war was broken, in 1572, 
by the massacre of St. Bartholomew, the most dreadful of the 
many crimes which mark this era of religious warfare. It 409. Mas- 
derived its name from the fact that it began in the night B^*it°i _ ' 
preceding that saint's festival. The causes of this slaugh- mew 
ter are to be found as much in political struggles for control as 
in religious hatred. For a time the weak-minded king, Charles 
IX, had cast off the sway of his mother, and had come under the 
influence of Admiral de Coligny. To recover her power the 
queen mother joined the Guises in a plot to murder Coligny. 
He was fired at from a window and seriously wounded, though 
not killed. In desperation, Catherine then played upon the 
fears and weaknesses of her son to procure the seizure and exe- 
cution of Coligny and other Huguenot leaders. She claimed 
that a plot was on foot for a great Huguenot uprising, which 
would involve the most serious consequences to the crown and 
the country. When Charles IX at last yielded, he demanded 
that not only the leaders, but all Huguenots should be slain, in 
order that none might remain to reproach him with the deed. 

The opportunity for the massacre was offered by the fact that 



362 THE PERIOD OF RELIGIOUS WARS 

large numbers of the Protestants had assembled in Paris to cele- 
brate the marriage of the king's sister with Conde's nephew, 
Henry of Navarre (na-var').^ The hatred of the Parisian 
populace for all Protestants gave the means for carrying it out. 
On the night of August 23, 1572, more than 2000 of the Hugue- 
nots were slain, including Coligny himself. The massacres 
in the provinces added at least 8000 more to this number. Per- 
sonal enmities and opportunities for plunder were not forgotten 
Ranke, by the fanatical mobs. "It was a combination of pri- 

^Imo^^ vate vengeance and public condemnation," says a modern 
archy in historian, "such as the world had never seen since the 

France, 277 ^ays of SuUa's proscriptions." 

A renewal of the religious war followed immediately. Re- 
publican ideas now began to appear in Huguenot writings ; for 
against the monarchy which had wronged them they raised the 
idea of the sovereignty of the people. The Catholics themselves 
were divided. The extreme party, under a new duke of Guise, 
turned more and more to Philip H of* Spain, from whom came 
money, men, and leaders for their "Catholic League." 

The situation became more acute under Henry HI. The 
death (in 1584) of the last intervening heir then opened up to 
410. Henry Henry of Navarre, the Protestant head of the French 
becomer^ house of Bourbon, the prospect of succeeding to the throne 
king (1589) of France. His claims were strongly opposed by the 
Catholic League, backed by Spain and the Pope. In the eighth 
civil war, which followed, the duke of Guise showed himself 
more king than Henry III himself. Henry III, therefore, 
caused Guise to be murdered in the royal council chamber 
(1588). To escape a just vengeance, the king allied himself 
with Henry of Navarre, and aided him in laying siege to the 
rebellious city of Paris. In August, 1589, Henry III was him- 
self assassinated by a fanatical monk. 

' The kingdom of Navarre (§312) at first included land on both sides of the 
Pyrenees Mountains, but the portion lying south of that chain had been con- 
quered by Ferdinand of Aragon in 1513. The small part which lay north of the 
Pyrenees became a center of Protestant opinions. It had passed to the French house 
of Bourbon through the marriage of Henry's father with its heiress. 



THE HUGUENOT WARS IN FRANCE 



363 








p? 






411. Edict 
of Nantes 



Beginning of the Edict of Nantes 

Henry of Navarre now became king of 
France by the same hereditary right to 
which the Valois kings owed their suc- 
cession.^ Against his briUiant leader- dj^gg) ends 
ship the league struggled in vain. By the wars 
becoming a Catholic in 1593, Henry IV re- 
moved the last obstacle to his acceptance by 
the French people. The religious question was 
then settled for the time by the Edict of Nantes, 
issued in 1598, which gave the Huguenots the 
following rights : — 

1. Equal political rights with Catholics. 

2. The right to reside anywhere in France without mo- 
lestation. 

3. Freedom of private worship in their houses, and of 



His claim to the throne is shown by the following table : 
Hugh Capet 
(Seven generations) 

Louis IX (Saint Lcuis, 1226-1270) 

\ . 



Philip III (1270-1285) 



Philip IV (1285-1314), 
fatfer of Louis X (1.314- 
1316), Phu-tp V (1316- 
1322), and Charlfs IV 
(1322-132S), with whora 
the (i) direct Capetiaa 
line ends. 



Charles, Duke of Valois, 
ancestor of the (2) main 
Valois line, which begins 
with Philip VI (1328- 
7350) and ends with 
Chap.lf.s VIII (i4'?3- 
149S); o (3) Louis XII 
(1498-1515); and of the 
(4) line of Francis I 
(see p. 360). 



Robert (married heiress of 
Bourbon), ancestor of the 
(s) Bourbon line of kings, 
which ascended the throne 
in Hen'py IV (1589-1610) 
and continued to the French 
Revolution {1792). 



3^4 



THE PERIOD OF RELIGIOUS WARS 



public worship in places where it had been enjoyed within the past 
two years. No Protestant services, however, might be held at 
the king's court, or within five leagues of Paris. 
4. The Huguenots were given La Rochelle and other strong places 
as cities of refuge. 

The Edict of Nantes completed the pacification of France. 
With the aid of his minister, the duke of Sully, Henry IV then 

restored the monarchial power, 
which had been seriously im- 
paired in the religious wars. 
He also carried out a series 
of reforms to improve the fi- 
nances and promote prosperity. 
"My wish," said he, "is that 
every peasant in the kingdom 
should be able to have a 
chicken in the pot for his 
Sunday dinner." He was af- 
fable, witty, wise, and coura- 
geous, and became the most 
popular king France has ever 
had. Extreme Catholics, how- 
ever, remained irreconcilable; and in 16 10, as his carriage was 
passing through the streets of Paris, Henry was stabbed to death 
by a religious fanatic. 

Fifteen years of anarchy and disorder followed, for Henry's 

son, Louis XHI, was but nine years old, and the queen mother 

412. Riche- was a vain, weak, and selfish woman. The restoration of 

lieu chief order at the end of that period was due to the rise to power 
minister of V. • i 1 • / - i 1 * /\ f-m 

France of the great statesman, Richelieu (re-she -lyu ). Through 

(1624-1642) powerful patronage he became a bishop at the age of 
twenty-oiie and a cardinal at thirty-seven. From the first, how- 
ever, he devoted himself to securing political advancement, and 
succeeded so well that in 1624 he became chief minister. When 
he entered the royal service (as he once told Louis XHI) "the 
Huguenots divided the state with you, the nobles conducted 




Henry IV. From an old print 



THE HUGUENOT WARS IN FRANCE 



365 




Richelieu 



themselves as though they 
were not subjects, and the 
most powerful governors of 
provinces as if they were 
sovereign in their charges. 
I may add that foreign al- 
liances were disdained. I 
promised your Majesty to 
employ all my efforts and all 
the authority which it might 
please you to give me, (i) to 
ruin the Huguenot party, (2) 
to lay low the pride of the 
nobility, and (3) to raise your 
renown among foreign nations to the point at which it ought 
to be." 

What Richelieu planned he achieved. In 1625 a new revolt 
of the Huguenots broke out, and after three years' struggle La 
Rochelle, the chief of their towns, was taken. The prac- Hugue- 

tice of granting them fortified towns as places of refuge not power 
was then abandoned. Although freedom of worship "^^ 
and civil liberty were left them, they were no longer to hold the 
position of a state within the state. 

The struggle with the turbulent nobility was of greater diffi- 
culty and longer duration, but it was no less successful. Once 
(in 1630) the king yielded for a moment to 'the outcry ^j^^ 

against Richelieu, and dismissed him. But after a few nobles 
hours of this so-called "Day of Dupes," King Louis's "™ 
good sense and patriotism reasserted themselves. "Continue 
to serve me as you have done," said he, "and I will maintain 
you against all who have sworn your ruin." 

Thenceforth, to the day of his death, there was no time when 
Richelieu's power was seriously endangered. Revolt and in- 
trigue did not cease, but they injured only their authors. Five 
dukes, four counts, and a marshal of France perished from this 
cause on the scaffold. The subjection of the nobility to the 



366 THE PERIOD OF RELIGIOUS WARS 

crown — for the time, at any rate — was complete. The de- 
struction of feudal fortresses not needed for national defense, 
and the introduction of royal officers (called "intendants ") as a 
check upon the governors of provinces, helped to make perma- 
nent the political abasement of the nobles. In internal affairs, 
Richelieu's efforts were bent to two special objects, — the es- 
tablishing of a civil service directly under control of the crown, 
and the organization of the army on a professional basis. 

Richelieu's promise to raise the renown of France abroad was 
also fulfilled. The crowning principle of his foreign policy, 
like that of Henry IV, was resistance to the Hapsburg houses 
of Austria and Spain. He sought especially to expand France 
to the limits of ancient Gaul. To this end he concluded alli- 
ances with Protestant states (England, Sweden, and the Nether- 
lands) as readily as with Catholic Venice and Savoy. To cut 
off land communications between the Spanish Hapsburgs in 
northern Italy and their Austrian brethren, he used all his arts 
of diplomacy and war. He did not hesitate, as we shall see, 
openly to take the Protestant side in the Thirty Years' War. 

It is not too much to say that Richelieu gave to France na- 
tional unity, secured for her religious peace, strengthened the 
415. Sum- monarchy, and raised it to the first position among the 
n-^l^r^ , powers of Europe. The weakness of his policy was that 
administra- he cared too much for the state, too little for the people, 
tion Hence gross abuses in the finances and internal admin- 

istration were allowed to remain unchecked. Beneath the 
glamour of a brilliant court and military glory was the misery 
of a suifering nation. 

B. The Revolt op the Netherlands 

The Netherlands, as we find them in the hands of Charles V 

(§ 359), were a group of seventeen distinct provinces loosely bound 

416 Condi- together. The northern were Dutch in speech and race; the 

tion of the southern were Flemish and Walloon. The States-General, 

e er an s g^ federal legislature which met from time to time, had 



THE REVOLT OF THE NETHERLANDS 367 

little real power; everything rested with the separate prov- 
inces. 

The wealth and prosperity which had marked the Flemish 
cities in the Middle Ages now characterized the Netherlands as 
a whole. Their land was undisturbed by war ; their ports were 
well situated for ocean commerce ; capital accumulated rapidly. 
Far more than Spain itself, the Netherlands profited by the 
enormous influx of gold and silver from Mexico and Peru. 
From the Portuguese discovery of India they drew large com- 
mercial gains. Flemish and Dutch fleets were found on every 
sea. Antwerp, in the sixteenth century, occupied the place 
that Bruges had held in the fourteenth. Often two hundred 
and fifty vessels lay at one time at its dock. Its bankers suc- 
ceeded to the financial leadership left vacant by the decline of 
the great banking houses of Florence and Augsburg. Every 
city of the Netherlands was noted for some branch of manu- 
facture, — as Lille (leel) for its woolen cloth, Brussels for its 
tapestries and carpets, etc. Well-watered meadows, protected by 
dikes from the encroaching sea, enabled the northern provinces 
to produce butter and cheese famous for their good quality. 
Agriculture was improved by careful cultivation; the fisheries 
flourished. 

Charles V was himself Flemish born, and cherished the Neth- 
erlands more than any other part of his dominions. Neverthe- 
less, he adopted measures of rigid repression when Prot- 417. Gov- 

estantism crept in from Germany and France. These ernment of 

T 1 . • r . r Charles V 

measures, however, caused no stirrmg of revolt, for and 

Protestantism as yet was not widespread, and political Philip il 
grievances were lacking to swell the religious discontent. 

A change came when Charles, in 1556, resigned the govern- 
ment to his son, Philip II. With characteristic obstinacy and big- 
otry, Philip throughout his long reign sought to put down heresy 
everywhere, — in France, in England, in Germany, as well as 
in his own dominions. The edicts against heresy were enforced 
with greater severity ; Spanish troops were kept in the land con- 
trary to promise ; and it was proposed to reorganize the church 



368 



THE PERIOD OF RELIGIOUS WARS 



in such a way as would increase the power of the crown and 
strengthen the Inquisition. Protestants and CathoHcs aUkc 



SCALE OF MILES 




The Netherlands, about 1650 



united in opposing this measure, and at their head appeared 
one of the greatest statesmen produced by that age. 

WilHam of Orange-Nassau was born a Lutheran and a Ger- 
man; but upon succeeding, at the age of eleven, to the prin- 



THE REVOLT OF THE NETHERLANDS 



369 




William the Silent 
From an old print 



cipality of Orange (in southern France) and the possessions 
of his family in the Netherlands, he was educated as a Catho- 
lic. He won his sur- g ^.j_ 
name, "the Silent," liam of 
from the skill with ^''^^^^ 
which he masked his indig- 
nation when the French king 
at one time began to speak 
to him (as to one fully in- 
formed) of an agreement 
made with Philip II for 
rooting out heresy in the 
Netherlands. "From that 
hour," wrote William later, 
"I resolved with rny whole 
soul to do my best to drive 
this Spanish vermin from the land." 

At first Philip's measures called forth only peaceable resist- 
ance, in which both Catholics and Protestants joined. Philip 
was obliged to promise a redress of some grievances; ^ 

but he accompanied this with a secret protest before a stitutional 
notary that he should not feel bound by his promise, ^^^'^^^'^^^^ 
because the concessions were not granted of his free will. The 
opposition gradually became more widespread, and the name 
"the Beggars" was adopted from a slighting remark of one 
of Philip's ministers. Protestant preachers used the oppor- 
tunity to spread their teachings. The result was popular riots, 
in which churches were stripped of their rich images and shrines, 
and irreparable damage was done to art treasures. 

In 1567 Philip sent to the Netherlands as governor the duke 
of Alva, — a stern, narrow-minded bigot. William of Orange 
withdrew for a time to Germany. A tribunal, popularly 420. Tyr- 
known as the "Council of Blood," was appointed to hunt ^he^duke 
down all persons suspected of heresy or of participation in of Alva 
the late disorders. One of its members, it is said, usually slept 
during the proceedings ; but when aroused, without inquiring 



370 THE PERIOD OF RELIGIOUS WARS 

who was on trial or for what, he would cry out : "To the gallows, 
Cambridge to the gallows !" A modern writer says : " From one end 
1^0 em ^1 ^j^g Netherlands to the other the executioners were 

Htstory, ill, 

217 busy with stake, sword, and gibbet, until the whole land 

ran red with blood." Many of the inhabitants emigrated to 
England and Germany, enriching those lands with their indus- 
trial skill. The climax of tyranny was reached when Alva im- 
posed a tax of ten per cent on all sales of goods, — a measure 
which caused shops to close and trade to come to a standstill. 

Even before Alva's tyranny had reached its climax, constitu- 
tional resistance had grown into armed revolt. In 1568 William 

421. Armed °^ Orange took the field, at the head of an army of German 
revolt be- mercenaries, French Huguenots, and Netherlander exiles, 
gun (15 ) -g^^ ^£ ^j^g duke of Alva was tyrannical, he was also able. 

During the first four years of the struggle, "the Beggars" waged 
a losing fight. William was defeated and was again obliged 
to retire from the land. His feet were dogged by misfortunes, 
but he did not despair. "With God's help," he wrote, "I am 
determined to go on." 

At last the tide turned. Many of the exiles had taken to 
the sea, and under the name of "Beggars of the Sea" were 

422. Ex- preying on Spanish commerce. In 1572 a band of these 
the^"Sea freebooters seized the town of Brill, at the mouth of the 
Beggars " river Meuse ; and soon after they took by assault the 

important seaport of Flushing. With this event was laid the 
foundation of the free Netherlands. Town after town there- 
after rose in revolt. The movement centered especially in the 
provinces of Holland and Zealand, where WiUiam of Orange 
was strongest. Among the novelties of the war was the use of 
skates in winter attacks and maneuvers. Places retaken by 
the Spaniards were treated with ferocious cruelty, but this only 
nerved the Netherlanders to greater efforts. 

Alva was recalled in 1573. His immediate successors carried 
on the war with greater moderation, but with no greater success. 
In 1574 the Spaniards laid siege to Leyden, situated on low 
ground, six miles from the sea. Under the leadership of its 



THE REVOLT OF THE NETHERLANDS 371 

heroic burgomaster, the citizens held out for four months. For 

seven weeks there was no bread within the city, and the 

people died by hundreds. At last William ordered the 423. The 

dikes to be cut. The sea swept over the land, drown- ^^^^^ °^ 

. 1 T-x 1 1 Leyden 

mg about 1000 01 the besiegers ; and Dutch barges, (1574) 

loaded with men and supplies, relieved the town. 

In 1578 a new regent arrived who followed a policy of sowing 
distrust between the northern and southern provinces. A per- 
manent division of the Netherlands on racial and religious „ • 

& 424. Union 

lines was the result. The ten southern provinces (now formed and 

Belgium) were restored to Catholicism and to Spain, '^'^^p^^^- 
° ' _ , ^ ence de- 

The seven northern provinces remained Protestant, and dared 
united in the Union of Utrecht (u'trekt ; 1579). Finally, in (^S79-i58i) 
1 58 1, a formal declaration of independence was issued, and the 
Dutch Netherlands (now Holland, or the Netherlands) emerged 
as a separate nation under William of Orange. This is said to 
be '' the first great example of a whole people ofhcially renouncing 
allegiance to their hereditary and consecrated monarch." 
It was two generations in advance of the English Common- 
wealth (§ 488), and two centuries before the founding of the 
American and French republics. 

King Philip, meanwhile, had taken the despicable step of 
putting a price on William's head. In 1584 an assassin, ani- 
mated by religious fanaticism no less than by hope of 425. wil- 
reward for his family, shot and mortally wounded that ^^^^ °^ 
heroic leader. As the struggle with Spain had developed, sassinated 
William threw oflF Catholicism and accepted Calvinism. (1584) 
"Throughout he acted as politician, not as theologian. He was 
a diplomatist, not a reformer ; a statesman, not a preacher ; 
a man of the world, not a saint. As he passed into middle „ • 
life and the terrific struggle which absorbed and killed William the 
him, he grew to a deeper conscience and a more spiritual ^''^^^''' 3^ 
temper." His place, like that of Washington, is firmly fixed 
among the creators of nations. 

In spite of the death of William of Orange, the Dutch con- 
tinued their struggle. But now there was less statesmanship 



372 THE PERIOD OF RELIGIOUS WARS 

in their counsels. The different provinces were jealous of one 
another ; opposite political and religious parties arose among 
426 Close ^^® people; and the leaders engaged in desperate quar- 
of the rels. One party wished to offer the crown of the Neth- 

struggie erlands to France, and another to England. Both coun- 
tries were jealous of the overgrown power of Spain and sent 
aid to the Dutch, but neither dared to accept the perilous offer. 
The destruction of the Spanish Armada by England, and the 
accession of Henry IV to the throne of France, destroyed Spain's 
chance of reconquering the revolted provinces. Nevertheless, 
Philip II doggedly protracted the struggle until his death in 
1598 ; and it was not until 1609 that his successor, Philip III, 
would agree to terms. A truce for twelve years was then ar- 
ranged. Before this expired the Thirty Years' War had begun 
in Germany, and the Dutch no longer stood alone. The inde- 
pendence of the seven United Provinces was formally' recognized 
by Spain in 1648, just before the peace of Westphalia. 

C. The Thirty Years' War (1618-1648) 

In 16 18 there broke out in Germany the last great religious con- 
test. From the length of time that it lasted it is known as the 
427. Na- Thirty Years' War. In the beginning it was a war within 
ture and ^j^^ Empire, growing out of religious and political con- 
the contest flicts in Germany. As it progressed, Spain took an active 
part in it, Sweden at one time played the chief role, and France 
became a principal actor. Ultimately all the powers of western 
Europe were more or less involved. Its causes were (i) the 
opportunities for dispute between Catholics and Protestants 
left by the religious peace of Augsburg (§ 372), and (2) the in- 
creased strength of Catholicism due to the progress of the 
Counter Reformation. 

The war began with a revolt of the Bohemian Protestants 
against their rigidly Catholic king, a member of the Haps- 
burg house, who a few weeks later was elected Emperor as 
Ferdinand II. The count palatine of the Rhine, the leading 



THE THIRTY YEARS' WAR 



373 



Calvinist prince of Germany, supported the revolt; but the 

Lutheran electors of Brandenburg and Saxony held aloof. The 

Palatinate was ^^^ ^^^^^^ 

overrun by in Bohemia 
o • 1, i (1618-1620) 

Spanish troops, ^ 
and Ferdinand easily 
put down the Bohemi- 
ans. Protestantism, 
which had been the 
religion of almost nine 
tenths of the inhabit- 
ants of Bohemia, was 
relentlessly rooted out. 
Thus one more land 
was added to those 
won back to Catholi- 
cism by the Counter . 
Reformation. 

For a time (1625- 
1629) the Lutheran 
king of Denmark 429. Wal- 
continued the ^f mo- 
war in behalf of lie general 
the German Protes- 
tants. But money aid 




Beginning ot the Bohemian Revolt 

Throwing the king's regents out of the windows at 
Prague 



from England, upon which he counted, was not forthcoming, 
and he was obliged to make peace. The triumph of Ferdinand 
II was largely due to the rise of an able Bohemian nobleman 
named Wallenstein (wSren-stin) to chief command on the 
Catholic side. Without cost to the Emperor he raised a force 
of 50,000 men, drawn from every country of Europe, and sup- 
ported by enforced contributions from the German states. As 
an organizer of troops Wallenstein was unsurpassed. As a gen- 
eral in the field he had only one rival (Tilly) on the Catholic 
side. As a statesman he was ambitious, calculating, tolerant 
in religion, and desirous of unifying Germany by building 



374 



THE PERIOD OF RELIGIOUS WARS 



430. Gus- 
tavus Adol- 
phus, Prot- 
estant 
champion 




up the power of the Emperor at the ex- 
pense of the German princes.^ 

After the withdrawal of the Danish 
king, King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden 
came forward as the chief Protestant 
champion. He was himself a 
sincere Lutheran and the head 
of a Lutheran state. In addi- 
tion, the extension of the Em- 
(I 30-1 32) pgj.Qj.'g power in northern Ger- 
many threatened the Swedish suprem- 
acy about the Baltic Sea which it was 
Gustavus's policy to build up. Gus- 
tavus landed in Germany in July, 1630. 
For a time the electors of Brandenburg 
and Saxony hung back, but when forced Showing gun rest in right 

r J.1 • hand, and burning 

from their .^^^^ „ ^.^^ ^^.^^ ^^ 

neutrality fire the charge, in left. 

they chose 

the Protestant side. Protes- 
tant resentment against the 
Catholics was increased by the 
sacking and burning, by Catho- 
lic soldiers, of the city of Mag- 
deburg, in which men, women, 
and children were massacred. 
At Breitenfeld (bri'ten-felt), 
near Leipzig, in September, 
1 63 1, Gustavus won an over- 



musketeer of thirty 
Years' War 




Gustavus Adolphus 



1 The armies of the Thirty Years' War, Kke those of the Middle Ages, were without 
uniforms. To distinguish friends from foes, bands of white or red cloth were worn on 
the arm, hat, or cap. Soldiers often took their women and children with them on the 
march, and at times an army of 40,000 fighting men drew along with it a motley host 
of 140,000 camp followers. Troops and followers often appeared like hordes of 
beggars or famishing vagrants ; but after the sack of a city or a successful marauding 
expedition, they could deck themselves with fine fabrics and gold and silver 
ornaments. 



THE THIRTY YEARS' WAR 375 

whelming victory. He then pushed on into southern Germany. 
Bavaria was occupied by his soldiers, while Saxon troops over- 
ran Bohemia. 

The Catholic cause had been weakened by the Emperor's 
dismissal of Wallenstein, in 1629, as a concession to the princes, 
who complained of the methods by which he supported 431- Death 
his armies, and feared his political plans. Now Ferdinand AdolphuT'^^ 
was obliged to recall Wallenstein on his own terms. (1632) 
Within a few months Wallenstein was again at the head of an 
army, and the Saxons were driven headlong out of Bohemia. 
At Liitzen, however, he was defeated (in November, 1632) 
by the superior discipline of Gustavus's troops. But the Swedish 
victory was won at the cost of the life of their king, who fell 
riddled with bullets while leading a cavalry charge. Gustavus 
Adolphus was the greatest general of his time. He was the first 
of modern commanders to supply his army from a fixed base, 
instead of living upon the country; and the strict discipline 
of his troops was in marked contrast to the lawless violence of 
Wallenstein's forces. His death was an irreparable loss, not 
merely' to his country, but to the Protestant cause. He was 
the one man who could unite German Protestants and success- 
fully withstand both the ambitions of France and the fanaticism 
of the Emperor Ferdinand. When he fell, ''all moral and re- 
ligious ideal died out of the Thirty Years' War." 

Wallenstein now sought to impose a peace upon Emperor, 
Swedes, and Saxons alike. How far his designs extended it is 
difiicult to say. At all events, the jealousy of Ferdinand 432. Assas- 
was aroused, and a proclamation was issued which again waUen^tein 
deposed him from his command and set a price upon his (1634) 
head. Wallenstein counted upon the devotion of his army, 
but at Eger (a'ger), in Bohemia, he was murdered by four of his 
own officers. Next year the elector of Saxony retired from the 
contest. The desire, however, of France and Sweden to obtain 
lands in Germany protracted the war for more than a decade 
longer. 

France's great minister Richelieu had supplied Gustavus 



376 THE PERIOD OF RELIGIOUS WARS 

Adolphus with money for his war, and he now decided to take 
part openly in the contest on the Protestant side. The fact 

433. Last that the minister of a Cathohc country, himself a car- 
war^a6^=;-^ dinal of the Catholic Church, should do this shows that the 
1648) Thirty Years' War was far from being merely a religious 

struggle. Thenceforth it consisted of a series of separate wars, 
centering in the great contest between the Bourbon house of 
France and the Hapsburg houses of Spain and Austria. The 
theater of the war was Germany, Italy, the Netherlands ; its 
objects, the humiliation of the Hapsburgs, and the extension 
of France to the northeast. Under the guidance of Richelieu, 
France more and more gained the ascendancy. / Into the details 
of this part of the war we cannot go. It is enough to say that 
gradually the power of Spain was broken, while Germany was 
rendered desolate. 

All parties were at last worn out by the struggle. After five 

434. Peace years of tedious negotiations, treaties of peace were signed 

ofWest- in Westphalia in 1648. ' The religious settlement included 
phalia(i648) .i r n • 

the following provisions : — 

1. The peace of Augsburg, with its principle cujus regio, ejus religio 

(§ 372), was confirmed, and extended so as to include Calvinists 
as well as Lutherans. 

2. Catholics and Protestants were to share alike in the administration 

of the Empire. 

3. The church lands were to remain as they were in the year 1624, 

and the restoration of Catholicism in Austria, Bohemia, and 
Bavaria was confirmed. 

The conflicting political interests presented greater difficul- 
ties. In the end the following provisions were agreed to : — 

1. Sweden received extensive territories on the German coasts of the 

Baltic and North seas as fiefs of the Empire. 

2. France obtained Alsace, and was confirmed in possession of the 

border fortresses gained in 1552 (§ 371). 

3. Saxony, Brandenburg, and other German states received addi- 

tional territories. 

4. The duke of Bavaria was given a vote in the electoral college, 



378 THE PERIOD OF RELIGIOUS WARS 

which thenceforth (until 1692 ; p. 426) numbered eight mem- 
bers. 
5. The United Netherlands (Holland) and the Swiss Confederation 
were recognized as completely independent of the empire. 

The Pope refused to sanction the treaties, and pronotinced 
null and void the concessions to Protestants. His protests 
went unheeded, and from this time papal influence in inter- 

435. Im- national politics practically ceased. The importance of 
peacTof °' ^^^ peace of Westphalia was very great. It marked the close 
Westphalia of one epoch and the opening of another. The long series 

of religious wars growing out of the Reformation was now 
at an end. There began a new period of international 
rivalry and war due to political and commercial causes and 
marked by the ascendancy of France. 

D. Germany and Spain after the Religious Wars 

In concluding our account of the religious wars, something 
must be said of the internal and international conditions 

436. Eco- of Germany and Spain at their close. Seldom has war- 
ditkinof"" ^^^^ brought more suffering and desolation than did the 
Germany Thirty Years' War to Germany. Its population, which 

in 1618 numbered between twenty and thirty millions, sank 

to about one half. Augsburg fell from 80,000 to 18,000, Berlin 

from 25,000 to 6000. Commerce and industry were annihilated. 

The Hanseatic League, already declining, was broken up, and 

most of the separate towns passed under the rule of neighboring 

Richt r princes. "How miserable are the cities," wrote a con- 

Queiienbuch, temporary; "how wretched the smaller towns and 

'^°' ^^° open country ! They lie burned, ruined, destroyed, with 

neither roof, rafters, doors, nor windows to be seen. How 

has it fared with the churches ? They have been burned, or 

converted into stables for horses or booths for sutlers' stores. 

Their altars have been plundered and their bells carried off. 

O God, how lamentable are the villages ! One may wander 

forty miles and scarcely see a human being, or an ox, — no. 



GERMANY AND SPAIN AFTER RELIGIOUS WARS 379 

not even a sparrow." Two centuries passed before Germany- 
recovered from the wasting effects of this dreadful war. 

The political condition of Germany was equally discouraging. 
In form there was still an Emperor, imperial Diet, and imperial 
court of justice. In fact, everything rested with the jj.g 

separate states, of which (including the free cities) there political 
were several hundred. They made their own laws, coined '^°°^ ^ *°° 
money, maintained armies, sent representatives to other courts, 
and could even form foreign alliances, except against the empire 
or Emperor. All sense of German patriotism was stifled. 

By a separate treaty Spain acknowledged the independence 
of the United Netherlands (Holland). She refused, however, 
to give her assent to other provisions of the peace of West- 438. Inter- 
phalia; and for eleven years longer the Franco-Spanish positbn of 
war dragged on, until ended by a peace in 1659. Spain's Spain 
international position in the seventeenth century was much lower 
than it had been in the sixteenth. The German Hapsburg lands, 
with the imperial office, were now in the hands of the younger 
branch of the family (§ 374) ; the Dutch Netherlands had suc- 
cessfully revolted; and Portugal, which in 1581 had been made 
a Spanish province, regained its independence in 1640. 

These external losses were accompanied by internal decay. 
The constant wars in which the ambitious plans of Charles 
V and Philip II involved Spain weakened her resources j. 

in men and in money. The Inquisition, which stamped internal 
out all opposition to church or crown, undermined ^^^^^ 
freedom of thought and of initiative. The expulsion, in 
1609, of the descendants of the Moors reduced the population 
by hundreds of thousands. The flood of gold and silver 
brought in from the New World proved as much of a curse as a 
blessing. Together with slavery, it bred a contempt for honest 
labor and produced a false system of political economy — 
the "mercantile" system — under which the efforts of govern- 
ment were directed chiefly to increasing the stock of precious 
metals, instead of fostering trade and industry. The Spanish 
character, with its intolerance, pride, and southern indolence, 



380 THE PERIOD OF RELIGIOUS WARS 

contributed to the decline. Finally, after the death of Philip 
II, its kings were mere figureheads, and its ministers incom- 
petent favorites. Under Charles V Spain was the first state of 
Europe, and her might overshadowed the world. A hundred 
years later she had declined to a third-rate power. 

The period of Spain's political decline was nevertheless an 
epoch of great literary and artistic excellence. Cervan'tes 
440. Span- (died 161 6) wrote his inimitable satire on chivalry, Don 
ish litera- Quixote; and Lope de Vega (lo'pa da va'ga) and Calderon, 
art who flourished somewhat later, founded the Spanish drama. 

This was also the period of the great Spanish painters Velas- 
quez and Murillo (§ 345). It seemed as if Spain, at the very 
moment when she was losing her political supremacy, might 
exercise a literary and artistic empire. But this glory also was 
not long in escaping her. 

IMPORTANT DATES 

1562. Huguenot wars in France begun. 

1568. Revolt of the Netherlands begun. 

1572. Massacre of St. Bartholomew. 

1584. William of Orange assassinated. 

1598. Henry IV issues the Edict of Nantes. 

1618. Begiiming of the Thirty Years' War in Germany. 

1624. RicheUeu becomes chief minister of France. 

1632. Gustavus Adolphus slain in the battle of Liitzen. 

1634. Wallenstein assassinated. 

1648. Peace of WestphaUa. 

TOPICS AND REFERENCES 

Suggestive Topics. — (i) What motives other than the religious one en- 
tered into the Huguenot wars ? (2) Can you see any reasons why massacres 
and assassinations were more frequent in the religious struggles of France 
than elsewhere ? (3) Do you think Henry IV did right in giving up Prot- 
estantism and becoming a Catholic in 1593? Give your reasons. (4) Was 
the Edict of Nantes a wise settlement of the religious question for France ? 
Why? (s) In what respects was the internal administration of France 
under Henry IV and Sully better than under Richelieu ? (6) In what ways 
was Richelieu a great minister ? (7) Was the prosperity of the Netherlands 



TOPICS AND REFERENCES 38 1 

in the sixteenth century greater or less than in the Middle Ages ? (8) Were 
religious or political motives more important in causing the revolt of the 
Netherlands ? (9) To what were due the divisions which arose between the 
northern and the southern provinces? (10) What qualities made William 
of Orange a great leader? (11) To what was due the final success of the 
Netherlands? (12) Were the causes of the Thirty Years' War in Germany 
more religious or political? (13) What is shown by the attitude of the 
electors of Saxony and Brandenburg toward the Bohemian revolt? 

(14) Why did the English kings promise aid to the German Protestants? 

(15) Why did France aid them? (16) In what ways was Gustavus Adol- 
phus a great ruler? (17) Did the Protestants gain "or lose on the whole 
by the Thirty Years' War? (18) Why did the religious wars do more in- 
jury to Germany than to France ? 

Search Topics. — (i) Coligny. Bes3LTit,GasparddeColigny. — (2) Mas- 
sacre OF St. Bartholomew. Besant, Coligny, 197-218; Robinson, 
Readings in European History, II, 179-183; Catholic Encyclopedia, XIII, 
333-338. — (3) Henry of Navarre. Willert, Henry of Navarre, 328-346 
(religious settlement), 347-368 (reforms), chs. v, vi, ix (character). — (4) 
Philip II of Spain. Hume, Philip II, 1-6, and ch. xviii; Motley, Dutch 
Republic, Pt. I, ch. i (older view) ; Dunn Pattison, Leading Figures in Eu- 
ropean History, 245-273; Robinson, II, 168-171. — (5) Condition of the 
Netherlands before the Revolt. 'Lmdsa.y, Reformation, 11, 224-234; 
Motley, Rise of the Dutch Republic, Introduction, sees, x-xii; Griffis, 
Brave Little Holland, chs. xiii-xvii ; Rogers, Holland, 1 2-45 . — • (6) William 
THE Silent. Motley, Pt. VI, ch. vi; Harrison, William the Silent, 208-211, 
and ch. xii; Lindsay, Reformation, II, 254-270. — (7) Siege of Leyden. 
Motley, Pt. IV, ch. ii. — (8) Causes of the Thirty Years' War. 
Henderson, 5Aor/ History of Germany, 1, ch. xvii; Gardiner, Thirty Years' 
War, 1-30. — (9) Wallenstein. Henderson, I, ch. xvii. — (10) Gustavus 
Adolphus. Gardiner, 136-162; Hausser, Reformation, 458-482; Dunn 
Pattison, Leading Figures, 274-300; Fletcher, Gustavus Adolphus. — 
(11) Treaty of Westphalia. Bryce, Holy Roman Empire, ch. xx; 
Wakeman, Ascendancy of France, 120-128; Henderson, Short History, I, 
490-495; Robinson, Readings, II, 213-216. — (12) Effects of the War 
on Germany. Gardiner, Thirty Years' War; Henderson, Short History, I, 
496-497. — (13) Richelieu's Life and Character. Lodge, Richelieu, 
ch. i, and 221-229. — (14) France under Richelieu. Lodge, Richelieu, 
ch. viii ; Perkins, Richelieu, ch. ix. 

General Reading. — Ranke's Civil Wars and Monarchy in France is a 
good account of the French religioug wars. Baird's Rise of the Huguenots 
(2 vols.) is the standard work on this subject. Motley's Rise of the Dutch 
Republic (various editions) is a classic. Gardiner's Thirty Years' War 
is an excellent brief sketch, by one of the greatest qf English historians. 




Louis XIV. From the painting by Rigaud in the Louvre, Paris 



382 



CHAPTER XX 
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV 

A. The Government of Feance 

In the period which opened with the peace of Westphalia a 
new political principle began to govern international relations. 
For a hundred years before that peace, religious motives jj^g 

were the real or avowed reason for most of the European Balance of 
wars and alliances. Now motives became wholly political, "^^'^ 
and international relations were governed by the idea of a "Bal- 
ance of Power." This phrase meant that no one state or prince 
should be allowed to become so powerful as to overshadow 
the rest. If one great state gained territory an5rwhere, its rivals 
claimed the right to despoil some weaker neighbor. We can see 
the beginning of this principle in the last phase of the Thirty 
Years' War. In the new period it "formed the basis of the 
coalitions against Louis XIV and Napoleon, and was the Encyclopedia 
occasion or the excuse for most of the wars which desolated . ^^^j^ ^^s 
Europe between the congress of Miinster [peace of West- Hi, 235 
phalia] in 1648 and that of Vienna in 18 14." France now 
held the ascendancy which Spain had formerly enjoyed, and the 
purpose of its policy was to extend that kingdom to its nat- 
ural mountain and river boundaries. In the interest of the 
Balance of Power other nations combined to prevent this 
expansion. From the long reign of the French king Louis 
XIV, and the prominent part which France played in literature 
and culture as well as in war and politics, the first half of this 
period is well called the Age of Louis XIV. 

Upon Richelieu's death (in December, 1642), he was suc- 
ceeded as chief minister of France by Cardinal Mazarin (ma- 
za-raN')j an Italian who early left the papal service for that 

383 



384 THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV 

of France. Five months later Louis XIII himself passed away, 
leaving the throne to his son, Louis XIV, then less than five 

442. Ma- years old. Anne of Austria, the queen mother, was named 

zann, chie j-ep-ent. She confirmed Mazarin in office, and so long as 
numster ° _ _ jo 

(1642-1661) he lived she supported him. He had to face the oppo- 
sition of the Parlement of Paris (the chief judicial body of 
France), riots among the people of Paris, and the intrigues and 
rebellions of the French nobles. Whether Anne was secretly 
married to Mazarin or not, is one of the riddles of history.^ 

Mazarin lacked the creative genius of Richelieu, but was well 
qualified to carry on an established system of government. 
The device upon his arms was "Time and I." He was tricky, 
fond of money, and a great collector of rare books and works 
of art. He was hated because he was a foreigner and the favorite 
of a foreign queen, and because he continued a policy fatal to 
the nobility and oppressive to the people. Nevertheless he is 
entitled to rank as a great minister, because of his triumphs 
in foreign affairs and the success with which he maintained 
the authority of the crown at home. 

In 1661 Mazarin died. Louis XIV, who was then twenty- 
three years old, announced that thereafter he would be his own 

443. Louis minister, and that he "was unwilling to have the least 
mLis- ordinance or the least passport signed without receiving 

ter (1661) his orders." The young king had considerable ability, 
was well trained, and worked with the greatest industry at what 
he called "his trade of king." H^discharged the public duties 
of his office with much dignity and tact, and showed a refinement 
of behavior which made his court the model of Europe. 

The idea of government held by Louis XIV is summed up in 

the words (which, however, he never uttered in precisely this 

The form): " L'etat c'est moi" — "I am the state." This 

divine right saying embodied the theory of the "divine right" of kings. 

of kings According to this theory, kings were appointed by God as 
His representatives on earth. They were the source of law, and 

1 Since Mazarin, although a cardinal, was only in minor clerical orders, it was 
possible for him to contract a valid marriage. 



THE GOVERNMENT OF FRANCE 385 

could not themselves be controlled by law. ''The whole duty of 
subjects," to use Louis's own words, "consists in carrying into 
effect the commands given them." The obedience exacted by 
Louis XIV was a blind, machine-like submission. "For sub- 
jects to rise against their prince, however wicked and oppressive 
he may be, is always infinitely criminal. God, who has given 
kings to men, has willed that they should be revered as His 
lieutenants, and has reserved to Himself alone the right to review 
their conduct. His will is that he who is born a subject should 
obey without question." 

Under Louis XIV the government was absolute to the last 
degree. The relentless policy of Richelieu and Mazarin had 
reduced the disorderly feudal nobles to the position of 44s. Ab- 
mere courtiers, who possessed many privileges but no senceof 
political powers. The Estates-General were suppressed the king's 
(after 1614), the Parlement was confined to its judicial power 
duties, and "intendants" (governors of provinces) were held to 
strict accountability. It should be remembered that ihere was no 
Great Charter in France to safeguard the liberties of the people. 
The king had unlimited power, both in taxing his subjects and 
in expending the state revenues. Worse than this, the king 
had the right to imprison or to exile any of his subjects 
without trial or even formal charge, by means of a system of 
lettres de cachet (let'tr' de ca-sha')- These were letters written 
by order of the king, countersigned by a secretary of state, and 
signed with the king's seal {cachet). The persons against whom 
the letters were issued usually deserved punishment; but the 
system violated all safeguards of personal liberty, such as 
habeas corpus proceedings and trial by jury, which are the pride 
of the English law. Under Louis XIV's successors, the letters 
were sometimes issued in blank, leaving to the person obtaining 
them the right to fill in such names as he chose. The most 
celebrated of Louis's prisoners was the mysterious "Man in the 
Iron Mask, " — really a mask of black velvet. Many attempts 
have been made to establish the identity of this unhappy pris- 
oner, but without general acceptance of their results. 



386 THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV 

Under the inspiration of Louis XIV, trained and able ministers 
organized the foreign office, the internal administration, and the 
446. Mili- war department. The principles on which these depart- 
tary reforms ments were organized were soon adopted by the leading 
countries of Europe. The military improvements included 
uniforms to distinguish the different regiments; bayonets 
affixed to the muskets, to serve as pikes ; marching in step ; 
pontoon bridges; and the Hotel des Invalides (o-tel' da zaN- 
va-led'), a home for disabled soldiers. Vauban (vo-baN'), the 







€crU ^ 




Lettre de Cachet 

" Mr. . I send you this letter to tell you to receive in my chateau of the 

Bastille Mr. and to hold him until further orders from me. And I pray 

God to have you, Mr. , in his holy keeping. Written at . 

Louis. 

creator of the engineer corps, made many advances in the art 
of fortifying and taking cities. "A city besieged by Vauban," 
says a proverb of the time, "is a captured city ; a city defended 
by him, an impregnable one." For many years thereafter, the 
French army remained without an equal in Europe. 

The internal administration was placed in the hands of Col'- 
bert (col-bar'), one of the greatest finance ministers that France 
ever produced. When he took charge of the revenues there 



THE GOVERNMENT OF FRANCE 387 

was no system of accounts, no thought of economy, and no 
check against dishonesty. Hereditary offices were created for 
the sole purpose of selling them. Taxes were "farmed q^^_ 

out" on ruinous terms. ^ Of the vast sums collected from bert reforms 
the people, less than half found its way into the king's finances 
treasury. The revenues were spent two years before they were 
collected. There were debts of large amounts drawing interest 
at exorbitant rates. Out of this financial chaos Colbert soon 
brought order. The number of those exempted from taxes was 
reduced. The cost of collecting the revenues was cut down one 
half. The plunderers of the treasury were forced to disgorge. 
Fraudulent certificates of debt were repudiated. A proper system 
of bookkeeping was introduced. Within a year, Colbert was 
able to show a surplus of forty-five million francs ($9,000,000) 
without having perceptibly increased the burden of taxation. 

In other ways, also, Colbert was active. Roads were im- 
proved, and a system of canals was constructed, of which the 
most important was one connecting the Atlantic with 448. Manu- 
the Mediterranean (see map, p. ^88). Manufactures were factures, 

11 r • rr 1 • 1 comHierce, 

encouraged by a system of tariffs, bounties, and monop- and colo- 

olies. Five great commercial companies were formed nies 
on the model of the Dutch and English East India companies. 
The navy and merchant marine were developed. Many islands 
in the West Indies were acquired. The French colony of Can- 
ada — neglected by Richelieu — was fostered ; and steps were 
taken to occupy the Mississippi valley, which had just been 
explored by La Salle. The way was open for France at .this 
time to secure the commercial and colonial supremacy of the 
world. But Louis XIV preferred the traditional but disastrous 
path of military glory, and soon abandoned the wise policies of 
Colbert. 

1 Under this system the right to collect certain taxes was granted to a company of 
speculators (called "farmers-general"), who paid a fixed sum to the government 
every year in advance. All beyond this amount the "farmers-general" put in their 
own pockets or divided with influential courtiers and corrupt officials. The agents 
who collected the taxes were notoriously greedy and oppressive. This system lasted, 
with some modifications, down to the French Revolution. 



388 



THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV 




France : Acquisitions of Louis XIV 



B. Wars or Louis XIV 

A passion for fame and the desire to increase French territory 
in Europe were the leading motives of Louis XIV. These pro- 
duced the four wars of his reign. 

The first war (1667-1668) had for its object the conquest of 
the Spanish Netherlands, to which Louis XIV advanced a 
449. First flimsy claim. The independent Dutch Netherlands there- 
L^'^^^xiv ^pon concluded with England and Sweden a Triple Alli- 
(1667-1668) ance against France. Louis was soon forced to sign a 
peace by which he surrendered most of his conquests. Against 
"their High Mightinesses the States- General of the United 
Provinces," who had balked him of his prey, Louis XIV cher- 
ished a lively resentment. 



WARS OF LOUIS XiV 



389 



The prosperity of the Dutch Netherlands had continued 
undiminished in the first half of the seventeenth century. In 
America they colonized New York and New Jersey; in 450. The 
Asia they secured Ceylon and Java ; in Africa they founded gj.^j'^nds ^* " 
Cape Colony (Cape of Good Hope). Said an old writer: (1609-1667) 
"Like bees they gathered honey from every land. Norway was 
their forest ; the banks of the Rhine, the Garonne, and the 
Dordogne their vineyards ; Germany, Spain, and Ireland wicquefort 
their sheep pastures; Prussia and Poland their grain inLavisse 
fields; India and Arabia their spice gardens." They baud fi^ 
became masters of the seas, and had almost a monopoly toire Generals, 
of the carrying trade of the world. A serious source of ' "^ 
danger, however, was the commercial rivalry of England. After 
much friction between the two countries, 
the English Parliam'ent, in 165 1, passed 
the first Navigation Act, under which 
foreign ships might import into England 
or her colonies only the products of their 
own countries. The Navigation Act was 
especially designed to wrest from the Dutch 
the control of the carrying trade of the 
world. Two wars with England followed, 
the first lasting from 1651 to 1654, the 
second from 1665 to 1667. Just before the 
second war, the Dutch colonies in North 
America were taken by the English. In 
the end the I)utch were obliged to accept 
a peace by which the Navigation Act 
remained in force. The republic's greatest 
prosperity was thus already past, when the Soldier of Louis XIV 
Dutch became involved in war with France. 

As a preliminary to this war, Louis won Sweden and Eng- 
land from the Triple Alliance. Charles II of England 451- Louis's 
even agreed to assist Louis, and secretly pledged him- J^e'^]^utch 
self to adopt the Catholic religion whenever conditions (1672-1678) 
seemed ripe for that step. The army which Louis gathered num- 




390 THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV 

bered more than 120,000 men. On the French side the war was 
characterized by the brilUant strategy of a great general, Turenne 
(tii-ren'), until his death in 1675. The Dutch resisted doggedly, 
cutting the dikes to save Amsterdam. On the sea their intrepid 
admiral, De Ruyter, twice defeated the French and English fleets. 
William III of Orange, the great-grandson of William the 
Silent, became captain general of the Dutch Republic in 1672.^ 

452. Wil- The remainder of his life, until his death in 1702, was one 

ham III be- \Qxig struggle against the power of Louis XIV. By form- 
comes cap- . .. 
tain general mg a new coalition of European states, he was able to hold 

(1672) his own against France. In England Parliament forced 

Charles II to make peace with the Dutch. This was cemented 
by a marriage between Mary, the oldest daughter of Charles's 
brother James, and her cousin William III. 

In 1678 Louis XIV agreed to a peace with the Dutch. His 
only substantial gains were made at the expense of Spain, which 

.^, T?^A t ceded to France the Franche-Comte (on the eastern 

453. End of ^ ^ 

the war border of France) , and a number of places in the Spanish 

^^ '^ -* Netherlands. The attempt to conquer the Dutch had 

failed ingloriously. 

During the ten years following this peace, Louis XIV, on 

one pretext or another, seized about twenty towns on the 

454. French borders of France and Germany. Strassburg, the chief 

aggressions p^g^^g q£ Alsace, was included in this number; and 
cause a new t^ ' ' 

coalition the genius of Vauban soon made it one of the strongest 

fortresses of the kingdom. The German Emperor was too much 

occupied at this time with the Turks on the Danube to resist 

such high-handed proceedings, and other powers were loath to 

go to war. However, in 1686, the Emperor, Spain, Sweden, 

the princes of North Germany, and the Dutch United Provinces 

joined in a league to oppose France. Two years later William 

III of Orange succeeded by revolution to the throne of his 

father-in-law, James II of England. Great Britain then ranged 

1 The power of the house of Orange was not made definitely hereditary over all 
the seven provinces until 1747. From a federal repubHc the Dutch Netherlands 
(Holland) then became a federal principality, its ruler bearing the title " Stadholder." 



WARS OF LOUIS XIV 39 1 

itself definitely against France. Against this coalition of Eu- 
ropean powers, Louis XIV stood alone. 

The third war of Louis's reign followed (1689-1697). So far 
as Europe was concerned, it was chiefly a war over the succes- 
sion to the Palatinate of the Rhine, the greater part of 45S- Third 
which was claimed by the brother of the French king. Its ^^^■'l ^iv 
chief event on the Continent was the frightful wasting of (1689-1697) 
that fertile German province by Louis's express orders. Cities, 
cathedrals, and a large number of castles on the Rhine were 
ruthlessly destroyed. The war was also a part of the lifelong 
duel in which William III and Louis XIV were now engaged. 
Twenty times William barely escaped being crushed. But he 
"represented the ideas of the future — free thought in religion, 
popular sovereignty in politics" ; and these principles sustained 
and inspired him. In yet another aspect the war was the first 
stage of a vast world-wide contest — a new "hundred years' 
war" — between England and France. These two powers 
were now beginning to contend for sea power, colonial domin- 
ion, and the commercial supremacy of the world. In 1692 
the English recovered the mastery of the sea, by a victory 
off La Hogue (og) — "the greatest naval victory won by the 
English between the defeat of the Armada and the battle of 
Trafalgar (1805)." The war spread to America, where the chief 
event was the conquest of Acadia from France by the Massa- 
chusetts colonists (1690), The exhaustion of all parties led 
to a new peace in 1697. France and England restored their 
recent acquisitions of territory, but Louis XIV was allowed to 
keep Strassburg. 

Within four years from the conclusion of this peace, war 
blazed forth anew, on a yet more disastrous scale. The cause 
of conflict was now the question of the Spanish succession. 

Charles II of Spain, the last male representative of the Span- 
ish Hapsburg line, was weak in body and mind, and with- g ^j^^ 
out children. The inheritance which he would leave Spanish 
embraced "twenty-two crowns " ; and included Spain, the ^"<^«=®ssion 
greater part of Italy, the Spanish Netherlands, the Philippine 



392 



THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV 



Islands, and a vast American empire. If the rules governing 
private inheritances were followed, the whole of these territories 
would go either to the French or to the Austrian monarch. This 
would violate the principle of the Balance of Power, which re- 
quired that no state should be allowed to grow so great as to 
threaten the others. The European Powers therefore sought 
to settle the question before the death of the Spanish king, by 
arranging a partition treaty for the division of the Spanish ter- 
ritories among the chief claimants.^ This arrangement, how- 
ever, wounded Spanish pride. The national party among the 
Spaniards, therefore, induced Charles II to make a will, three 
weeks before his death (1700), by which he left the whole in- 
heritance to the dauphin's second son, Philip. 

Louis XIV had solemnly pledged his honor to the partition 

457. War of treaty, but acceptance of the legacy offered greater pros- 
e panis p^^^ ^^ gain. His decision was announced when he 

(1701) appeared, leaning upon the arm of his grandson, and pre- 

^ By this treaty (1700) the Emperor's second son (the Archduke Charles) was to 
secure Spain, the "Indies" — that is, the American colonies and the Philippines — • 
and the Netherlands. The dauphin of France was to receive certain other terri- 
tories. An earliec partition treaty (169S) had given the greater part of the Spanish 
inheritance to the young Electoral Prince Joseph, of Bavaria. This arrangement . 
was upset by his death the following year. The descent of the various claimants 
is shown by the following table, their names being printed in italics: — 

PHiLn> III of Spain (1598-1621) 
son of PmLiP II, and fourth in descent from Ferdinand and Isabella 



Louis XIII = Anne of Austria 
of France 
(1610-1643) 



Loms XIV = Maria Theresa 
of France I 
(1643-171S) 

Louis the Dauphin 
(d. 1711) 

I 



Phtlip IV (1621-1665) 



Charles II 

(1665-1700) 

last of 

Spanish 

Hapsburgs 



Maria = Ferdinand III 
(Emperor 
1637-1657) 
ruler of Austria, 
etc. 

Margaret = Emperor Leopold I 
Theresa (1658-1705) 

by a second 
marriage 
Maria Antoinette 
m. Elector of Bavaria 



Louis 

D. of Burgundy 

(d. 1712) 

Louis XV 
(1715-1774) 



Philip oj Anjou, 

succeeds to 
Spanish throne 
as Philip V 
(1701-1746) 
first of the 
Spanish Bourbons 



Joseph, 

Electoral Priiwe 

of Bavaria 

(d. 1699) 



Joseph 
(Emperor 
1705-1711) 



Archduke 

Charles, 

Emperor as 

Charles VI 

(1711-1740) 



WARS OF LOUIS XIV 393 

sented him to the court, saying, "Gentlemen, behold the king 
of Spain!" The spirit which animated the court is summed 
up in the saying (wrongly ascribed to Louis himself), "The Pyre- 
nees no longer exist." A new coalition, which embraced England, 
Austria, the Dutch, and certain German provinces, was soon 
in arms to check this great increase of the Bourbon power. 

The war was waged in Italy, the Netherlands, Germany, 
Spain, and North America. The question at issue was not 
merely the disposal of the Spanish Hapsburg possessions 4S8. Eng- 
in Europe, but whether France should be allowed to add .^ ^ ^ 
to her own North American colonies the control of Spain's involved 
vast colonial empire. English traders had managed to carry 
on a profitable (but illegal) commerce with the Spanish colonies 
in America. This would be stopped if the strong rule of France 
was substituted for the weak rule of Spain. For this reason 
the trading classes in England gave loyal support to the war. 

At the head of the allied forces were the imperialist general 
Eugene of Savoy and the English duke of Marlborough. Both 
are ranked among the greatest generals of history. Of 459. Marl- 
Marlborough it was said that he "never besieged a fortress th^^^^^^^'f 
which he did not take, never fought a battle which he the allies 
did not win, never conducted a negotiation which he did not 
bring to a successful close." The two generals acted in perfect 
harmony, but each was hampered by political enemies at home. 
The French' generals were not the equals of Eugene and Marl- 
borough, and they were hampered by the necessity of having 
precise orders from the king for all that they did. 

In 1704 Eugene and Marlborough won the great battle of 
Blenheim (blen'im) from the French and the Bavarians, who 
were advancing upon Vienna by way of the Danube. ^^ Battle 
This battle broke the spell of Louis's victories and pre- of Blenheim 
served the coalition. It increased the renown of the Eng- <^^'704) 
lish soldiery and confirmed the revolution which had driven James 
II from the EngHsh throne. In spite of the view set forth by the 
English poet Cowper (in his poem "The Battle of Blenheim") 
it was "a glorious victory," and was decisive of great issues. 



394 



THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV 



461. Peace 
of Utrecht 

(1713) 



Other brilliant victories of the allies finally led Louis XIV 
to negotiate for peace, which was concluded at Utrecht 
in 1 7 13. Its chief provisions were the following : — 



Philip V was recognized as king of Spain and the Indies, on con- 
dition that France and Spain should never be united under 
the same sovereign. 

The Austrian ruler received Naples, Milan, Sardinia (soon ex- 
changed for Sicily), and the former Spanish Netherlands. 

England received Newfoundland, Acadia, and the Hudson Bay 
territory from France. From Spain she secured Gibraltar, the 
island of Minorca (in the Mediterranean), and limited rights of 
trade with Spanish America. 




Territorial Gains of the War of the Spanish Succession 

The peace of Utrecht closes the long struggle — dating from 
before the days of Richelieu — of France against the Austro- 
Spanish power. A Bourbon was seated on the throne of Spain ; 
but England- had begun that expulsion of France from Canada 



SOCIAL CONDITIONS AND CULTURE 395 

v/hich was completed fifty years later. Austria for her part 
secured not merely the Spanish Netherlands, but also a hold 
upon Italy which she did not finally lose until 1866. The Dutch 
were forced into the peace against their will, and sank to the 
rank of a third-rate power. 

Louis XIV died September i, 171 5, at the age of seventy- 
seven. He had reigned seventy-two years — the longest reign 
in European history. He had set a Bourbon on the throne ^^ Death 
of Spain in place of a Hapsburg. He had enlarged the of Louis 
borders of France on the south by the acquisition of a (i7is) 

small county on the French side of the Pyrenees. On the east 
he had advanced its boundary to the Swiss Confederation and to 
the Rhine. On the north he had extended the frontier a con- 
s.iderable distance by taking several strips of territory from the 
Spanish Netherlands (map, p. 388). In spite of some defeats, 
France remained the leading state of Europe, though with 
lessened prestige. It owed its importance not merely to the 
ambition of its king, but to the energy and ability of the French 
people, the richness of its soil, and the advantages of its geo- 
graphical position. 

C. Social Conditions and Culture 

In the midst of his wars, Louis XIV found time both for a 
long quarrel with the Pope (which he brought to a successful 
conclusion) and for the suppression of the Huguenot 463. Revo- 
religion. His poHcy against his Huguenot subjects was cation of 

1 ,..,,.. r^^ 11 the Edict of 

as much political as religious. They formed about one Nantes 

fifteenth of the population of France, and were by far the (1685) 
thriftiest and most enterprising part of the nation. But Louis's 
suspicion that they were still disloyal to the crown, his passion 
for uniformity, a desire to prove his orthodoxy, and his religious 
bigotry alike urged him to suppress the Huguenots. An impulse 
in the same direction came from the religious zeal of Madame de 
Maintenon (maN-t'noN'), the estimable governess of his children, 
to whom he was secretly married after the death of his queen. 
After numerous attempts at peaceful conversion of the Hugue- 



396 THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV 

■ nots, the Edict of Nantes was revoked in 1685. All protection 
of law was thus withdrawn from the French Protestants. Their 
worship was suppressed, their ministers were ordered to leave 
France within fifteen days, and their adherents were forbidden 
to follow them. Many pastors who braved the edict suffered 
the penalty of death. Hundreds of their followers who were 
taken in the attempt to flee were sentenced to long years of 
service at the oar in French galleys. More than 250,000 Hugue- 
nots succeeded, however, in making their escape from France, 
and carried to other countries French arts, the secrets of French 
manufactures, and hatred for Louis XIV. The industries of 
England, Holland, and Brandenburg profited greatly from this 
emigration. America found in the Huguenots some of her most 
desirable colonists. France lost many of her choicest citizens, 
who carried with them treasures of heroism, of constancy, of 
disinterestedness, which she could ill spare. 

It is remarkable that in the age of Louis XIV, when foreign 

relations were governed chiefly by unscrupulous ambition, 

464. Rise there were laid the foundations of scientific international 

° JP ^^ law. In the treatises published on this subject,^ the fol- 

law lowing principles (of which the reign of Louis XIV was one 

long violation) were laid down to guide states in their relations 

with one another : — 

1. War should be carried on only for a just cause, and for the purpose 

of defense. 

2. Do no more injury to the vanquished than is strictly necessary. 

3. Force alone ought not to regulate the relations of peoples, for there 

is justice between states as well as between individuals. 

4. To observe treaties is the wisest practice and the greatest strength 

of sovereigns. 

In spite of its almost constant warfare, the reign of Louis XIV 
saw a general advance in the ways of living and in culture. A 
system of street lighting for Paris was established, by which 

^ The most important among these works were the treatise of a Hollander named 
Grotius, On the Law of War and Peace (published in 1625), and that of a German 
named Pufendorf, On the Lazv of Nature and of Nations (pubHshed in 1672). 



SOCIAL CONDITIONS AND CULTURE 



397 



a lantern containing a lighted candle was placed at the entrance 
or in the middle of each street every night from November i 
to March i. Within the houses, candles and shallow 465- Social 
lamps filled with animal or vegetable oils still furnished ^ d"tion of 
the only lights.^ With better paved streets, carriages the people 
could be used; and cabs for hire, and even the "omnibus" 
following a fixed route, were introduced. For travel from city 
to city, heavy coaches were provided which took fourteen days 
to go from Paris to Bordeaux. Tobacco began to be used in 
France in the preceding reign. Coffee 
was .first brought from the 'eastern 
Mediterranean under Louis XIV, and 
the example of the Turkish ambassador 
made it the fashionable drink. Choco- 
late was introduced from Central Amer- 
ica, and tea from China, at about the 
same time. 

French civilization became the most 
brilliant in all Europe, and its center 
was Louis's court at Versailles gg jj^^ 
(ver-sa'y'), about twelve miles court at 
from Paris. His palace there, ^^^ ®^ 
with its gardens and outlying buildings, 
was the most magnificent ever seen in 
the West. Its construction cost France 
more than a hundred million dollars. The life of the palace 
was on an equally splendid and costly scale. Five thousand 
attendants served the wants of the king and the royal family. 
In addition, the chief officers of the government, with their 
clerks, and a great part of the nobility of France, were housed 
at Versailles. The nobles were attracted there not only by 
the splendor of the court, but also because it was only by 
living close to the king, — the source of all power, — that they 
could hope to win favors, pensions, and offices. 

1 Kerosene and improved lamps are first met with in the first half of the nineteenth 
century. Gas lighting came into use in cities at about the same time. 




Costume of Nobleman in 
THE Time of Louis XIV 



J 




398 



SOCIAL CONDITIONS AND CULTURE 399 

Every act of the king was governed by a most elaborate cere- 
monial. "Etiquette," it has been said, "became the real con- 
stitution of France." The king's rising in the morning ^ j. 
was an occasion which it was accounted a great privilege elaborate 
to attend. The manner of putting on each garment was etiquette 
minutely regulated. It required seven persons to put on the 
king's shirt. ^ The same pomp and ceremony surrounded the 
king's meals and his going to bed. A French historian says of 
Louis XIV: "He was a god in his temple, celebrating his own 
worship, in the midst of his host of priests and faithful." 

The brilliancy of Louis's court was not due entirely to its 
gorgeous trappings, the polished manners and extravagant 
pleasures of the courtiers, and the beauty of the court 468. Lit- 
ladies. His liberal gifts attracted men of wit and learning, V^^^^ ^' 
who spread the glories of his court throughout Europe. XIV 
The age of Louis XIV was one of the most brilliant in the history 
of French literature. By means of the French "Academy" 
(founded by Richelieu), and a system of pensions for literary 
effort, great men were fostered and rewarded. Corneille (cor- 
na'y') founded the classical school of French dramatists. His 
younger contemporary, Racine (ra-sen'), is styled by a French 
critic "the most perfect of our tragedians, and perhaps of our 
poets." Moliere (mo-lyar'), in a series of admirable comedies, 
held up to ridicule the vices and follies of the time. The names 
of many others — poets, philosophers, orators, and moralists — 
might be added to the list. Coming between the religious re- 
formers of the sixteenth century and the political reformers of 
the eighteenth, these writers were occupied chiefly with matters 
of literary form. They sought to ascertain and establish the 
laws of good taste. They exerted a strong influence on English 

1 "A valet of the wardrobe brought the king's shirt; he passed it to the first 
gentleman of the bedchamber, who handed it to the dauphin, or (in his absence) to 
one of the other princes, who gave it to the king. Two valets of the bedchamber 
then held up his majesty's dressing-gown to conceal him from the gaze of the on- 
lookers. The first valet of the bedchamber and the first valet of the wardrobe then 
put on the shirt, the one holding it by the right sleeve, the other by the left." — 
Lavisse and Rambaud, Histoire Generale, VI, 198. 



400 THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV 

writers of the eighteenth century, of whom the poet Pope is the 
most striking example. In painting, however, the art of France 
could show nothing to compare in strength and effectiveness 
with the work of the Dutch painter Rembrandt (§ 345). 

France now became the center of fashion for the civilized 
world. This was true alike in literature, art, dress, and court 

469. In- etiquette. Every little princeling in Europe sought to 

France in ^^^ ^P ^ court like that of the Grand Monarch of France. 

Europe The French tongue became the universal language of di- 

plomacy, philosophy, and high society. "The taste of France," 
wrote Frederick the Great of Prussia some years later, "rules our 
cooking, our furniture, our clothes, and all those trifles over 
which the tyranny of fashion exercises its empire." The sway 
over Europe which Louis XIV was not able to conquer with 
the sword was peaceably won by French intelligence and 
taste. 

There is, however, another side to the picture. The palace 

of Versailles, with all its splendors, lacked sanitary appliances. 

Inter- '^° cover its bad odors, perfumes were freely used. It 

nal ills of was not until the middle of the eighteenth century that the 
ranee habit of bathing all over was introduced into fashionable 

society from England. The moral tone of the French, court 
was extremely corrupt. Its luxury and the costly wars of the 
reign reduced the peasantry to its lowest condition. An author 
of that time (Fenelon) dared to write to the king : "Your people 
are dying of hunger. The cultivation of the soil is almost 
abandoned. The towns and the country decrease in popula- 
tion." In time of famine peasants were reduced to living on 
grass, nettles, roots, and whatever else they might find. In 
internal administration the absolute monarchy of France proved 
a. failure. "French kings knew how to exact obedience, but 
they did not know how to govern." At home the reign of Louis 
XIV established political despotism, economic misery, and social 
inequality. The logical outcome of these was the French 
Revolution, which broke out three quarters of a century 
later. 



TOPICS AND REFERENCES 401 

IMPORTANT DATES 

1661. Death of Mazarin; Louis XIV takes the government into his 

own hands. 
1672. Louis XIV attacks the Dutch Netherlands. 
1685. Revocation of the Edict of Nantes. 
1689. War over the Palatinate begun. 
1701-1713. War of the Spanish Succession. 
1704. Battle of Blenheim. 
1 71 5. Death of Louis XIV. 

TOPICS AND REFERENCES 

Suggestive Topics. — (i) To what extent does the principle of the Balance 
of Power affect the relations of European states at the present time? 

(2) What are its good features ? Its bad ones? (3) Compare the "divine 
right" theory of government held by Louis XIV with the claims of the 
medieval Popes. (4) Was the prosperity of the early part of the reign 
of Louis XIV due to the king or to his ministers? (5) What were the 
effects of Louis XIV's wars on France ? (6) Compare the objects of the 
English wars with the Dutch with those of Louis XIV against the same 
people. (7) What advantages did England reap from her Dutch wars? 

(8) What led to the cessation of wars between the English and the Dutch ? 

(9) Why was the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes unwise? (10) Was 
Louis XIV's conduct with reference to the Spanish succession honorable 
or dishonorable ? Was it expedient or inexpedient for France ? (11) Why 
did William III make himself the head of the opposition to Louis XIV ? 
(12) What was the prize at issue in the series of wars between England and 
France? (13) Why djd sea power now begin to be important ? (14) Did 
Louis XIV do more good or harm to France ? 

Search Topics. — (i) Louis XIV's Character and Abilities. Perkins, 
France under the Regency, ch. v;. Hassall, Louis XIV, ch. iii ; Dunn Pattison, 
Leading Figures in European History, 306-328; Robinson and Beard, 
Readings'in Modern European History, I, 4-10. — ■ (2) Colbert's Economic 
Policy. Perkins, France under the Regency, ch. iv; Johnson, Age of the 
Enlightened Despots, ch. i; Robinson and Beard, Readings, I, 12-14. — 

(3) Court Life at Versailles. Perkins, France under the Regency, ch. v; 
Hassall, Louis XIV, ch. xi; Taine, Ancient Regime, 86-90, 100-109; Dab- 
ney. Causes of the French Revolution, ch. xii. — (4) Influence of Madame 
DE Maintenon. Perkins, France under theRegency, 148-160. — (5) Effects 
of the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes. Perkins, France under the 
Regency, 199-203; Catholic Encyclopedia, VII, 534-535. — (6) Huguenots 
in America. Parkman, Pioneers (ed. 1887), 27-179; Doyle, Virginia, I, 
88-100. — (7) Canaba under Louis XIV. Parkman, Old Regime in 



402 THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV 

Canada, ch. xv ; Fiske, New France and New England, ch. ii. — (8) The 
Dutch before the Wars with France. Wakeman, Ascendancy of France, 
214-233; Mahan, Influence of Sea Power upon History, 50-74, 96-101. — 
(9) The Second Hundred Years' War. Seeley, Expansion of England, 
lect. 2. — (10) William III. Traill, William III, ch. i, and 197-203. — 
(11) Duke or Marlborough. Green, Short History of England, yo^-jig ; 
Stanhope, Reign of Queen Anne, I, ch. iii. — (12) France at the Close op 
THE Reign of Louis XIV. Perkins, France under the Regency, ch. ix. — 
(13) Treaty of Utrecht. Wakeman, Ascendancy of France, 364-370; 
Robinson and Beard, Readings, I, 50-53. 

General Reading. — In addition to the above, see the volumes in the 
Epochs of Modern History by Airy, Hale, and Morris (English Restoration 
and Louis XIV ; Fall of the Stuarts; Age of Anne). Wakeman's Ascend- 
ancy of France is excellent for the political history. Martin's Age of Louis 
XIV and the Decline of the Monarchy (4 vols., translated from the French) 
gives a comprehensive account, as does the Cambridge Modern History. 
Saint-Simon's If ewoJr^ (abridged translation in 4 vols.) is the best source 
for the court life. 



CHAPTER XXI 

CONSTITUTIONAL MONARCHY IN ENGLAND 

A. Conflicts between King and Parliament (1603-1642) 

While absolute government was establishing itself in 
France, control by Parliament arose in England. This was no 
accident, but was rather the result of the whole tendency of 
English history. 

When Queen Elizabeth died (in 1603), the nearest heir to her 
throne was James VI of Scotland. He was the son of Mary 
Stuart, Queen of Scots (§ 393), but had been reared as a 471- Ac- 
Protestant. He now became king of England as well as j^nies i 
of Scotland, and was there known as James I. In other (1603) 
respects the governments of England and Scotland remained 
separate and independent. James was one of the most learned 
rulers of Europe, but was so lacking in tact and prudence that 
Henry IV of France called him " the wisest fool in Christendom." 

The times were changed since the days when the English 
quietly accepted the despotism* of the Tudors. There was no 
longer the danger of oppression by the barons, or of foreign 472. Causes 
invasion, or of religious war to cause them to desire a ^^^pj^ 
strong kingship at any cost. Puritanism, moreover, was liament 
becoming more insistent in its demands for further reform in 
the church. The middle classes, through the development of 
commerce and industry, were becoming important enough to 
claim an active voice in the government. Even Elizabeth, in 
the later years of her reign, had seen the necessity of bowing to 
the will of Parliament. But James I and his Stuart descendants 
were influenced by the same ideas of the divine right of 
kings that animated Louis XIV. They set themselves to rule 

403 



404 CONSTITUTIONAL MONARCHY IN ENGLAND 

as absolute monarchs, disregarding the wishes and prejudices 
, of the nation. The result was that the "murmuring Parlia- 
Baeehot nient of Quecu Elizabeth" developed into "the mutinous 

English Con- Parliament of James I, and the rebellious Parliament of 
stiiuHon,zA9 Charles I"; and the end was the "glorious revolu- 
tion" of 1688, which brought William III to the throne. 

The first question which James had to face was the religious 
question. At the time of his accession he was in favor of grant- 
Gun- ^"-S ^° Catholics some relief from the oppressive laws 
powder which had been passed against them. Certain rash mem- 

Plot (160s) |^gj.g q£ ^^^ faith, however, joined in what is known as 
the Gunpowder Plot, their purpose being to blow up the Parlia- 
ment House when the king. Lords, and Commons were assembled 
at the opening of the session. But the suspicions of the govern- 
ment were aroused, and the night before the session opened 
search was made in the cellars under the Parliament House. 
Guy Fawkes, the chief conspirator, was discovered watching over 
a number of barrels of powder which had been prepared for the 
explosion. He and his fellow conspirators were tried and exe- 
cuted. After the discovery of this plot, James heeded the de- 
mands of his Protestant subjects, and allowed the harsh laws 
against Catholics to remain in full force. ^ 

With the Puritans also (§ 392) James found it difficult to 

deal. At a conference held in 1604, some of the Puritan speakers, 

474. Puri- in justifying their worship, used words which led James 

tan perse- ^q think that they wished to introduce into England .the 
cution and , 1 • 1 1 

American Presbyterian system of church government, which he 

colonization had found vexatious in Scotland. "If this be all they 
have to say," said the king, "I shall make them conform them- 

1 November sth, the anniversary of the discovery of the plot, is still celebrated 
in England with bonfires and the burning of stuffed figures of Guy Fawkes (whence 
comes our expression to "look like a guy")- Until recent years English children 
learned the following verse : — 

"Remember, remember, the Fifth of November, 
Gunpowder treason and plot ; 
T see no reason why Gunpowder treason 
Should ever be forgot !" 



CONFLICTS BETWEEN KING AND PARLIAMENT 405 

selves, or I will harry them out of the land, or else do 
worse." 

Persecutions followed which led many of the more radical 
Puritans to seek homes beyond the seas. In 1620 occurred the 
famous settlement of Plymouth colony by the Pilgrims, and ten 
years later came the great emigration which founded Boston. 
Virginia, founded in 1607, was settled more from economic than 
religious motives. Though the founding of the American col- 
onies can receive little attention in this book, it was one of the 
great events of the time. In the mother country the Puritan 
ideas were in the end stamped out (after 1660) ; and a reaction 
then arose which seriously checked English political and religious 
development. The Puritan colonists in America, on the other 
hand, preserved their religious faith, togetlier with progressive 
ideas of government and society. For a century after 1660, Eng- 
land paid little attention to these sturdy young communities three 
thousand miles away. The result was the rapid growth of the 
ideas which the colonists had brought from England, into the 
colonial principles of the eighteenth century. These seemed 
purely American only because the Puritan ideas of the seven- 
teenth century had been stamped out so completely at home. 

The harsh policy which James I adopted toward the Puritans 
led to friction between the king and Parliament. Other causes 
worked in the same direction. The king of England, unlike ouar- 

the king of France, had no right of arbitrary taxation and rels with 
no standing army. The extravagance of James made ^'^ ament 
him more dependent upon Parliament than his predecessors 
had been, yet he quarreled with Parliament over questions of 
privilege and religion. In the Thirty Years' War, James sought 
to aid the Protestants through a treaty with Spain, which should 
include the marriage of his son, Prince Charles, to a Spanish 
princess. When Parliament attacked this project, in 1621, 
James roundly ordered its members " not to meddle with any- 
thing concerning our government or deep matters of state." 
Their privileges, he asserted, rested only on the will of the king. 
The Commons answered this assertion by a written protest in 



4o6 



CONSTITUTIONAL MONARCHY IN ENGLAND 



which they set forth : (i) That " the Kberties, franchises, privileges, 
and jurisdictions of Parliament are the ancient and undoubted 
birthright and inheritance of the subjects of England." (2) 
That "affairs concerning the king, state and defense of the realm, 
and of the Church of England, and the maintenance and making 
of laws," were properly debated in Parliament. (3) That "in 
the handling and proceeding of those businesses every member 
of the House of Parliament hath and of right ought to have 
freedom of speech," and freedom from arrest for his conduct in 
Parliament. This protest James tore from the journal of the 
Commons with his own hand. Its authors he imprisoned. 

A trip to Madrid, however, convinced Prince Charles and the 
king's favorite, the duke of Buckingham, that the Spaniards 
were deceiving them. So when James met his next Parliament, 
in 1624, he invited it to declare war against Spain. The 
question of the privileges of Parliament was allowed to rest. 
For the first time James found himself really popular. The next 
year he died, and Charles I became king. 

Charles I was a more kingly man than his father, but he was 

also more arbitrary, more self-willed, and more unbending. His 

476. Acces- personal morals were of 

i?^f - the highest, but there was 

Charles I . . 

(1625) an unintentional untruth- 

fulness in him which made it 
impossible to bind him by any 
promise. To these traits he add- 
ed an unswerving devotion to 
the estabhshed English Church. 
This was one of his noblest 
characteristics, but it proved 
a fruitful source of trouble. 

At this time a new religious Charles i 

party was arising among the From the contemporary painting by Van 

English clergy, headed by ^y^^ 

William Laud. It wished to restore certain forms and cere- 
monies of the Catholic Church, while continuing to reject the 




CONFLICTS BETWEEN KING AND PARLIAMENT 407 

headship of the Pope and the mass service. At the opposite 
rehgious extreme to this party stood the Puritans. They wished 
to carry the Reformation even further, and to do away Laud- 

altogether with priestly robes, altars, and pictured win- ians and 
dows, and to reduce the worship to the bare sijnplicity of ■""^^'^^ 
the early church. Laud's party was small, but it had the king 
with it. In return it zealously supported the king's authority, 
■and taught that disobedience to the king was sin. The Puri- 
tans regarded this doctrine as intended to overturn civil liberty 
and to pave the way for the reintroduction of Catholicism. 
Their opposition to Laud and his party found strong support in 
the House of Commons. 

Another source of growing dissatisfaction was the power 
exercised by the duke of Buckingham. He had been raised 
from humble station to the highest rank, and was now in- g oppo- 
trusted with practically the whole administration of Eng- sition to 
land. Buckingham was insolent in behavior, while his ^^ ^ ^™ 
government was miserably inefficient. England was already 
engaged in war against Spain, and had pledged aid to the Prot- 
estant cause in Germany (§ 429). Nevertheless Buckingham 
rushed headlong into a new and inglorious war with France. 
Men began openly to name him as " the grievance of grievances." 
In 1626 he was saved from impeachment (§ 309) only by the 
king's, dissolving Parliament. 

Charles's third Parliament passed a measure called the Petition 
of Right, which Charles was obliged to accept as law. 479. The 
Its importance is second only to that of Magna Carta, for Pftition of 
it settled in favor of the nation most of the constitutional passed 
questions then in dispute. It provided : — (1628) 

1. That no one should be required to give any gift, loan, or tax to the 

government unless it was granted by act of Parliament. 

2. That no one should be imprisoned contrary to the law of the land, 

even by the king's orders. 

3. That soldiers and mariners should not be quartered in private 

houses. 

4. That commissions of martial or military law should not be issued. 



4o8 CONSTITUTIONAL MONARCHY IN ENGLAND 

Charles then "prorogued" this Parhament, — that is, he ad- 
journed it for some months, without putting an end to its exist- 
ence. Before it met again, Buckingham was murdered by a 
fanatic who had a private grievance to add to the pubHc dis- 
content. Sir Thomas Wentworth, who hitherto had been one 
of the opposition leaders, then changed to the royal side. He 
was neither a Puritan nor a believer in popular government, so 
he cannot be styled a "turncoat." He had opposed the govern- 
ment because it was inefficient. With Buckingham gone, he 
now gave his support to the government, and ultimately, as 
earl of Strafford, became Charles's chief adviser. 

When Parliament reassembled, the king and the Commons 
were as wide apart as ever. Besides the dispute over the Laud- 

480. New ian changes in religion, the controversy was mainly over 

quarrels ^]^g king's right to collect (without grant of Parliament) 
with Par- f „ , .. 1 1 „ r^i 

liament a customs duty called tonnage and poundage. The 

(1629) Commons claimed that this was prohibited by the Peti- 

tion of Right, but Charles denied that he had given up this 
right. The parliamentary session ended in a scene of great 
confusion. While the king's messenger knocked loudly for ad- 
mittance at the locked doors of Parliament, the Speaker of the 
Commons was held forcibly in his chair and resolutions were 
passed declaring : (i) That the Laudian innovators in religion, 
and those advising the taking of tonnage and poundage without 
the consent of Parliament, were "capital enemies of the king- 
dom." (2) That every one voluntarily paying tonnage and 
poundage was "a betrayer of the liberties of England." 

Charles thereupon dissolved this Parliament. Eleven years 
of arbitrary government followed, during which no Parliament 

481. Arbi- was held. Laud, now made archbishop of Canterbury, 

rary gov- forced his ideas upon the English Church with conscien- 
emment _ ^ * 

(1629-1640) tious obstinacy. As a result, the Puritan emigration to 

New England was much increased. The wars with France and 

Spain were brought to an end for lack of means to continue 

them. The Court of Star Chamber (an organization which 

practically dates from Henry VII) and the Court of High Com- 



CONFLICTS BETWEEN KING AND PARLIAMENT 409 

mission (originally created by Elizabeth to enforce the royal 
supremacy in the church) dealt relentlessly with those who 
opposed the king's will. Sir John Eliot, one of the leaders in 
the last Parliament, was imprisoned for his course there, and 
died in the Tower three and a half years later, a martyr to con- 
stitutional liberty. Judges who were suspected of being un- 
friendly to the royal claims were dismissed. The king's need 
of funds, together with his determination to rule without a Par- 
liament, caused him to rake up all sorts of obsolete rights of ex- 
acting feudal dues and fines, and to resort to other questionable 
means of raising money. The most important of these means 
was a new and arbitrary tax called " ship money." The right of 
the king, in time of war, to call upon the maritime counties to 
furnish ships for the defense of the realm was unquestioned. 
Charles now, in time of peace, converted this right of ship service 
into a money tax, and extended it over all the counties of England. 
By levying the ship money in three successive years, he also 
showed that he meant to make the tax permanent. A rich and 
patriotic man named John Hampden refused to pay the tax and 
contested the king's right to levy it. The result was the Ship 
Money Case, tried in 1637. The decision of the judges was 
against Hampden ; but the publicity of the trial enabled Hamp- 
den's lawyers to get their arguments before the people almost 
as completely as they could have done in a Parliament. 
The result was greatly to strengthen the opposition to the 
government. 

In spite of the economic prosperity of these years, English 
discontent became more widespread than ever. Finally the 
attempt of Charles and Laud to force upon the Presbyterian 
kingdom of Scotland a new church service book led to a revolt 
of the Scots. An English Parliament, when summoned early 
in 1640, showed itself entirely on the side of the rebels, and was 
dissolved within three weeks. New reverses in the war with the 
Scots forced Charles, in November, 1640, to convene another 
Parliament ; and of this he was not so easily rid. 

This body, known in history as the Long Parliament, showed 



4IO CONSTITUTIONAL MONARCHY IN ENGLAND 

itself almost unanimously opposed to the king's religious and 

civil policy. Charles could not dismiss it, as he had dismissed 

482. Be- his earlier Parliaments. A Scottish army was now on Eng- 

ginningof jigh soil, ready to march southward in case he failed to 

the Long 1 i i i • 

Parliament P^^y each month the sums agreed upon m a recent treaty ; 

(1640-1641) and for these sums Charles was dependent upon Parlia- 
ment. The principal leader of the Parliament was John Pym, 
whose influence in the House of Commons was so great that his 
enemies called him "King Pym." Under his guidance the Long 



Execution of the Earl of Strafford 
From a contemporary print. Note the Tower of London in the backgroimd , 

Parliament proceeded (i) to punish the authors of the late op- 
pressions, (2) to compensate the sufferers from them, and (3) to 
provide securities for the future. Both Strafford and Laud were 
beheaded. Other officials escaped punishment only by flight. 
The victims of the Star Chamber and the High Commission 
were freed from prison and granted sums of money for their 
sufferings. These two oppressive courts were then abolished. 
To secure the regular assembling of' Parliaments, a Triennial 
Act was passed, which provided that not more than three years 



CONFLICTS BETWEEN KING AND PARLIAMENT 411 

should elapse without a session of Parliament. Another act 
provided that the existing Parliament should not be prorogued 
or dissolved without its own consent. 

In assenting to this last act Charles made his greatest mistake. 
Divisions now began to appear among the members of Parlia- 
ment. The Puritans desired to cast out, "root and branch," 
the government of the church by bishops. The Anglicans, on 
the other hand, wished merely to restore the conditions which 
existed before Laud's innovations. If Charles had been free 
to dissolve this Parliament, while frankly accepting the acts 
already passed, new elections would doubtless have returned a 
Parliament of more. moderate composition. Three things grad- 
ually widened the breach between the king and the Parliament. 
These were : (i) Charles's determination to punish the opposi- 
tion leaders ; (2) their wish to preserve what had been gained ; 
(3) the agitation by some of the members for more radical re- 
forms in church and state. Some of those who formerly had 
opposed Charles now rallied to his support. The name "Cava- 
liers" was soon given to the royalist party; while their oppo- 
nents, from their short-cut hair, in contrast with the cavalier's 
flowing locks, were called "Roundheads." 

In the latter part of 164 1 a rebellion broke out in Ireland which 
made necessary an English army to quell it. The question was 
raised whether it was safe to give the king a force which 483. Drift- 
might be used, after Ireland was pacified, to put down "^s into war 
the Parliament itself and undo its work. It was known that 
Charles had already endeavored fruitlessly to get together 
soldiers for this purpose. To Pym it seemed necessary to take 
the control of the government and of the army out of the king's 
hands. Accordingly a document called the Grand Remon- 
strance was drawn up, in which all the king's acts of misgovern- 
ment since the beginning of his reign were set forth. It de- 
manded that the government should be put in the hands of 
ministers responsible to Parliament, otherwise no money would 
be voted to carry on the government. The Grand Remon- 
strance was carried, amid great excitement, by the small ma- 



412 CONSTITUTIONAL MONARCHY IN ENGLAND 

jority of eleven votes. "If it had been rejected," said Oliver 
Gardiner, Cromwell, who was a member of the House of Com- 
England X ^^ns, "I would have sold all I had the next morning, and 
78 never seen England more." 

The king refused the demands of the Grand Remonstrance, 
and prepared a counterstroke. It was known that Pym and 
four other leaders of Parliament had been in communication 
with the Scottish rebels. Technically this was treason. With 
a large body of armed courtiers Charles went to the House of 
Commons, and sought to arrest the accused persons. The 
Speaker of the House, when called upon by the king to point 
out the members named, replied, "May it please your Majesty, 
I have neither eyes to see nor tongue to speak in this place, but 
as the House is pleased to direct me." "Well, well," answered 
Charles, " 'tis no matter. I think my eyes are as good as an- 
other's." But "the birds were flown," and the arbitrary at- 
tempt of the king to arrest them only injured his cause. 

Over the question of the control of the army, which involved 
the question whether the king or Parliament should rule, the 
two parties drifted into civil war. 

B. The Great Civil War (1642-1649) 

In this contest the north and west — the poorer and more 
backward parts of England — were royalist, while the richer 
g Parties ^^*^ more progressive south and east adhered to Parlia- 
in the civil ment. Socially, the middle classes (including the Lon- 
^" doners) were parliamentarians ; while a great part of the 

gentry, and most of the nobles — save a small number who con- 
tinued attendance in the House of Lords — supported the king. 
The navy, the arsenals, and the machinery of taxation were all 
in the hands of Parliament. 

Both sides sought allies. In 1643 the parliamentarians en- 
tered into a Solemn League and Covenant with the Scots, by 
which a reformation of religion in England and Ireland was 
pledged "according to the Word of God, and the example of 



THE GREAT CIVIL WAR 



413 



SCALE OF MILES 
26 60 75 100 



NORTH 



SEA 



the best reformed churches." This was understood to mean 
the estabHshing of Presbyterianism ; only on that understand- 
ing would the Scots 
furnish troops, 
whose expenses were 
to be borne by Par- 
liament. The king 
in the same year 
came to terms with 
the Irish rebels, and 
sought to bring over 
armies from Ireland 
and the Continent. 

Hampden and 
Pym died early in the 
war. Oliver 485- Vic- 

r-< 1 1 tories of 

Cromwell, the parUa- 

who was an mentarians 
earnest. God-fear- 
ing man, organized 
a body of cavalry, 
like-minded with = 
himself, who were 
styled the "Iron- 
sides." The efficiency of these troops and Cromwell's own 
tactical genius brought him more and more into promi- 
nence as the war went on. On the king's side, the most 
brilliant officer was Charles's nephew, Prince Rupert, the son 
of a German Protestant prince. The first great reverse sus- 
tained by Charles was at Marston Moor (July, 1644), when 
Cromwell's Ironsides and the Scots overthrew Rupert and the 
royalists. This secured the north of England for Parliament. 
The feeling that the first generals of the parliamentary army, 
who were chiefly nobles, were disinclined to follow up their 
victories against the king led (in 1645) to the passage of the 
"Self-denying Ordinance." This provided that all officers who 




1. OF WIGHT I7'*"l' 



England in the Civil War (1642) 




414 ' CONSTITUTIONAL MONARCHY IN ENGLAND 

were members of either House of Parliament should lay down 
their commands. Cromwell, however, was reappointed, and 

the army was reorganized under him 
as lieutenant general. In 1645 the 
second decisive victory over the 
king was won at Naseby. The roy- 
alist forces were there practically de- 
stroyed; and copies of Charles's 
private letters were captured, show- 
ing his intrigues and untrustworthi- 
ness. In May, 1646, Charles gave 
himself up to the Scots, thinking to 
obtain better terms from them than 

from his English subjects. 
Oliver Geomwell , . . .._,,, 

^ , . . 1 he religious question m England 

From the contemporary painting . 

by Van der Faes meanwhile took a new turn. An 

assembly of clergy and laity, called 
by Parliament, sat from 1643 to 1647. It framed the famous 
Westminster Confession, which contained Presbyterian prin- 
ciples, including the abolition of bishops and disuse of the prayer 
book. The Presbyterians controlled Parliament and sought to 
• force their principles upon the nation. But in the army the 
majority were Independents, or radical Puritans, who opposed an 
established church of any sort, and favored religious toleration. 
When Charles surrendered, the Scots, Parliament, and the 
army all tried their hands at negotiating with him. In 1648 
486 Neeo- ^^ succeeded, although a prisoner, in stirring up a second 
tiations with civil war. In this conflict the Scots, who now supported 
aries I ^j^^ king's cause, were routed by Cromwell at Preston. 
The army officers, convinced at last of the folly of further deal- 
ings with Qharles, joined in demanding that he be brought to 
trial. When Parliament, after passing measures directed against 
the Independents, voted to reopen negotiations with the king, 
a body of troops under Colonel Pride took possession of the 
Parliament House, and excluded one hundred and forty-three 
Presbyterian members from that body (1648). 



THE COMMONWEALTH AND PROTECTORATE 415 

After "Pride's Purge," the "Rump" (that is, the sitting por- 
tion of Parliament) seldom numbered more than sixty members, 
and of course did not really represent the country. Never- 487. Exe- 

theless it appointed a High Court of Justice, which tried cution of 

, , . K , , 1 . , 1 .. • Charles 

the king and condemned him to death as a tyrant, traitor, (jan. 30, 

murderer, and public enemy to the good people of this ^^49) 
nation." Throughout the trial indications were given that the 
pi-oceedings were not approved even by Londoners. Neverthe- 
less, on January 30, 1649, Charles was publicly beheaded. He 
bore himself with quiet dignity and religious resignation, and 
his death went far to remove the unfavorable impression created 
by his misgovernment and intrigues. His great error lay j^j^^y ^^.^^ 
in trying "to substitute the personal will of Charles Stuart of the Con- 
for the legal will of the king of England." "^ ^ " ''°^^' ^ 

C. The Commonwealth and Protectorate (i 649-1 660) 

The Rump declared that "the people are, under God, the 
source of all just power." Assuming to act in their name, 
it declared the monarchy and House of Lords abolished, 488. The 
and made England a Commonwealth, or free state, ^^^^~ 
under an executive council of forty-one members. (1649-1653) 

The Commonwealth was threatened from Ireland and Scot- 
land by the adherents of Charles's son, whom the Scots pro- 
claimed as Charles II. In Ireland Cromwell took two places 
by storm and put the garrisons to the sword, as a means 
"to prevent the effusion of blood for the future." In Septem- 
ber, 1650, he inflicted a severe defeat upon the Scots at Dunbar. 
The next summer young Charles II made a dash into England, 
where the royalists were expected to rise to his assistance. This 
expectation was disappointed, and the Scots were overwhelm- 
ingly defeated at Worcester. Prince Charles escaped to France 
after six weeks of thrilling adventures. For the next nine years 
Scotland was forcibly united to England. 

New dissensions meanwhile arose between the army and Par- 
liament. Cromwell and the army desired that elections be held 
for a new Parliament, but the members of the Rump insisted 



41 6 CONSTITUTIONAL MONARCHY IN ENGLAND 

that they should sit in the new body and have a veto on the 
election of the new members. In April, 1653, Cromwell ended 
the matter by forcibly turning out the Rump.^ He then called 
together an assembly of persons nominated by the Independent 
pastors of the three kingdoms. This assembly was popularly 
styled "Barebone's Parliament," from a London member 
named Praise-God Barebone. 

The failure of this body to deal satisfactorily with matters 
of government led to the adoption of a written constitution 
g ^j^g called the Instrument of Government. Under this con- 
Protectorate stitution Cromwell was named Lord Protector of England, 
(1053-1659) Scotland, and Ireland. The Protector, together with a 
council of not less than thirteen persons, constituted the ex- 
ecutive. All legislative power was vested in a Parliament of a 
single chamber. Like the American constitutions, the Instru- 
ment of Government was a rigid constitution, containing pro- 
visions which could not be changed by ordinary legislation. It 
was the only written constitution that England has ever had. 
In foreign affairs Cromwell's government was very successful, 
and he made England more respected abroad than she had ever 

1 "Come, come, I will put an end to your prating," cried Cromwell. "You are 
no Parliament, I say you are no Parliament ; I will put an end to your sitting. 
Call them in, call them in." Whereupon the sergeant attending the Parliament 
opened the doors, and two files of musketeers entered the House ; which Sir Henry 
Vane, observing from his place, said aloud, "This is not honest, yea, it is against 
morality and common honesty." Then Cromwell fell a-railing at him, crying out 
with a loud voice, "O Sir Henry Vane, Sir Henry Vane, the Lord deliver me from 
Sir Henry Vane." Then looking upon one of the members, he said, "There sits a 
drunkard" ; and giving much reviling language to others, he commanded the mace 
[the symbol of the House's authority] to be taken away, saying, " What shall we do 
with this bauble? Here, take it away." Having brought all into this disorder, 
Major-General Harrison went to the Speaker as he sat in the chair, and told him 
that it would not be convenient for him to remain there. The Speaker answered 
that he would not come down unless he were forced. "Sir," said Harrison, "I 
will lend you my hand " ; and thereupon putting his hand within his, the Speaker 
came down. Then Cromwell applied himself to the members of the House, who were 
in number between eighty and one hundred, and said to them, "It's you that have 
forced me to this, for I have sought the Lord night and day that he would rather 
slay me than put me upon the doing of this work." — Edmund Ludlow, Memoirs, 
if 3S'4. 



THE COMMONWEALTH AND PROTECTORATE 417 

been since Elizabeth's day.^ In internal affairs the Protector- 
ate proved a failure, because it was based upon the support of the 
army, and not upon the free consent of the nation. When the 
first ParHament under the Protectorate met, in 1654, its members 
insisted on debating the advisability of "government by a 
single person," and otherwise called in question the constitution 
under which they were assembled. Cromwell therefore dis- 
missed them at the earliest moment possible ; and royahst plots 
for a time led him to assume the powers of a dictator. 

In 1656 Cromwell again called a ParHament, and after ex- 
cluding some ninety members from their seats, he got along 
smoothly with the rest. They even offered the crown to Crom- 
well, and proposed the formation of a "second house" of Par- 
liament. Cromwell declined the crown, but organized the 
second chamber. New difficulties forced him, in February, 
1658, to dissolve this Parliament, as he had done in the case of 
its predecessor. On September 3 of the same year, — the an- 
niversary of the battles of Dunbar and Worcester, — Cromwell 
died. He had not sought power, neither had he shirked it; 
and while it was in his hands, he administered the government 
honestly and ably. In his wish to grant toleration to all Prot- 
estant Christians, whether Episcopalians, Presbyterians, or 
Independents, he was in advance of his time.^ 

1 For Cromwell's Navigation Act, and war with the Dutch Netherlands, see § 450. 

2 The poet Milton in 1652 wrote this noble sonnet on Cromwell: — 

" Cromwell, our chief of men, who through a cloud 

Not of war only, but detractions rude, 

Guided by faith and matchless fortitude, 
To peace and truth thy glorious way hast ploughed. 
And on the neck of crowned Fortune proud 

Hast reared God's trophies, and his work pursued ; 

While Darween stream, with blood of Scots imbrued. 
And Dunbar field, resound thy praises loud, 
And Worcester laureate wreath. Yet much remains 

To conquer still ; Peace hath her victories 

No less renowned than War ; new foes arise. 
Threatening to bind our souls with secular chains. 

Help us to save free conscience from the paw 

Of Hireling wolves, whose Gospel is their maw." 



4l8 CONSTITUTIONAL MONARCHY IN ENGLAND 

Oliver's son, Richard Cromwell, succeeded him as Protector. 

But the son had neither the force of character nor the hold on the 

490. Res- army possessed by the father. Quarrels arose between 

the^Staart ^^^ Protectorate Parliament and the army, and Richard 

line (1660) permitted the latter to turn out the Parliament. The 

Rump was then restored. Richard Cromwell was soon forced 

to abdicate and retire to private life (1659). The Rump then 

quarreled with the army, was again expelled, and again restored. 

By this time England was heartily tired of Commonwealth and 

Protectorate alike,^ and was ready to welcome the restoration 

1 The sentiments with which a great part of the EngUsh people welcomed the 
restoration are shown in a royalist poem entitled "A Litany for the New Year" 
(1660): — 

"From all and more that I have written here, 
I wish you protected this New Year ; 
From Civil war and such uncivil things 
As ruin Law and Gospel, Priests and Kings ; 
From those who for self-ends would all betray, 
And from such new Saints that Pistol when they pray, 
From flattering Faces with infernal Souls, 
From new Reformers, such as pull down [St.] Paul's, 
From Linsy-woolsy Lords, and from Town betrayers. 
From Apron Preachers, and extempore Prayers, 
From Pulpit-blasphemy and bold Rebellion, 
From Blood and — something else I could tell ye on. 
From new false Teachers which destroy the old, 
From those that turn the Gospel into Gold, 
From that black Pack where Clubs are always Trump, 
From Bodies Politic and from the Rump, 
From those that ruin when they should repair. 
From such as cut off Heads instead of Hair, 
From twelve-months' Taxes and abortive Votes, 
From chargeable Nurse-Children in red Coats [soldiers]. 
From such as sell their Souls to save their Sums, 
From City Charters that make Heads for Drums, 
From Magistrates that have no truth or knowledge. 
From the red Students now in Gresham College, 
From sweet Sir Arthur's [Sir Arthur Haslerig, a member 

of the Rump] Knights of the Round Table, 
From City Saints whose anagram is Stains, 
From Plots and being choked with our own Chains, 
From these and ten times more which may ensue. 
The Poet prays. Good Lord deliver you." — The Rump, II, 94-95. 



THE RESTORED STUARTS 



419 



of the legitimate monarch. George Monk, a strong, silent 
general, who had taken no part in recent squabbles, marched 
to London with the northern troops, and forced the Rump to 
admit the members expelled by Pride in 1648. The recon- 
stituted assembly then ordered a new election, and voted its 
own dissolution (March, 1660). 

This ended the Long Parliament, twenty years after its first 
assembling. Its republic had failed, but it had forever put 
barriers to the absolutism of the crown. Thenceforth no king 
could get along without Parliament, as Charles I had once 
done ; and its part in the government steadily grew larger. 

D. The Restored Stuarts and the Revolution of 1688 

The Convention Parliament, as the new assembly was styled, 
proceeded at once to call Charles II to the throne, and restore 

the old unwritten consti- chai- 

tution. The new monarch acter of the 
was a man of great natu- "^^^toration 
ral sagacity, but indolent and 
grossly immoral.' He came 
back with the fixed determina- 
tion "never to set out on his 
travels again"; so he did not 
hesitate to give way ort any 
point when circumstances com- 
pelled him to. Thirteen per- 
sons implicated in the execution 
of Charles I were put to death. 
The Puritanic mode of life, 
which had been forced upon 
the country in the preceding 
period, was followed by a flood of gay immorality, of which 
the king's court was the center. 

In spite of the fact that those chiefly responsible for Charles 
II's restoration were Presbyterians, the next (Cavalier) Parlia- 
ment (1661-1679) showed itself violently intolerant of every- 




Woman's Dress in Court of 
Charles II 



420 CONSTITUTIONAL MONARCHY IN ENGLAND 

thing which differed from the Church of England. Nearly two 

thousand Puritan ministers were expelled from their churches. 

492. Per- The holding of religious assemblies which were not accord- 

dissen°ers "^^ ^° ^^^ Church of England was forbidden under heavy 

(1660-1685) penalties. The dispossessed ministers were debarred from 

acting as teachers or living in the boroughs. No person could 

hold a borough office who did not receive the sacrament of the 

Lord's Supper according to the way of the Anglican Church. 

From this time there existed, along with the established 
church, a large body of Protestant dissenters, — Presbyterians, 
Baptists, Quakers, and the like. Their ranks contained the no- 
blest English writers of that time. John Milton, the blind author 
of Paradise Lost, was for ten years secretary of the Council of 
State under Cromwell, and in his prose writings defended the 
Puritan cause. John Bunyan also embodied the ideas of the 
dissenters in his prose allegory entitle Pilgrim's Progress. 

In his foreign policy Charles II aided Louis XIV of France, in 
return for money to spend upon his pleasures. But in his two 
wars against the Dutch (1665-1667 and 1672-1674) he 
Charles's was also following the policy, begun by Cromwell, of 
favor to building up English shipping against foreign rivals. 

causes con- At heart Charles was a Catholic, so far as he was any- 
flict thing, and wished to secure toleration for his Catholic sub- 

jects. To test public opinion, his brother and heir, James, duke of 
York, declared his adherence to the Roman Church. In 1672 
Charles issued a Declaration of Indulgence, suspending the laws 
which imposed disabilities on Catholic and Protestant dissenters. 
He based his right to do this on what was called his "dispensing 
power," — that is, the right claimed by the king to suspend the ex- 
ecution of practically any law. But the '' dispensing power " was 
attacked as illegal, and the declaration was withdrawn. Parlia- 
ment then (1673) passed a Test Act, which excluded Catholics 
from offices in the gift of the crown.^ Five years later the ex- 
clusion was extended to Catholic members of the House of Lords. 

1 The act was so framed that it excluded Protestant dissenters as well, but never- 
theless it was supported by them. 



THE RESTORED STUARTS 42 1 

As Catholics had been ineligible for the Commons since the days 
of Elizabeth, the exclusion now extended to all public life. 

In 1678 England went wild over rumors of a "Popish plot" 
for the forcible restoration of Catholicism. Under the influence 
of this panic, a persistent but unsuccessful attempt was whigs 

made in Parliament to pass a bill excluding the duke of and Tories 
York (the king's brother) from the succession to the throne. ^^ '^^"^ 
Over this question arose the division into political parties in 
the form which they were to hold for more than a century. On 
the one side stood the Tories, who laid stress upon the ideas of 
hereditary succession,' divine right, and the duty of nonresist- 
ance. They were usually stanch supporters of the established 
church. On the other side were the Whigs, who leaned to tol- 
eration of Protestant dissenters, and looked upon the king as a 
mere official who was subject to the law, and bound to act through 
ministers responsible to Parliament. The reign closed in 1685, 
with the Tories completely triumphant, and Charles at the 
height of his power. The greatest gain to liberty in Charles 
II 's reign was the passage of the Habeas Corpus Act (in 1679), 
by which Englishmen were better protected against arbitrary 
and illegal imprisonment. The French did not gain such safe- 
guards until after their Revolution of 1789. 

Two great calamities of this reign deserve notice. In 1665 
a terrible plague swept away a hundred thousand persons in 
London alone. Next year, fire destroyed a great part j^^_ 

of the city. The fire ended the plague by burning the don plague 
old rat-infested quarters; and out of the ashes soon rose ^ ^® 
a new and finer London. 

In spite of his Catholic faith the duke of York, as James II, 
was allowed quietly to succeed his brother.^ James possessed 
Charles I's narrow-mindedness and tenacity of opinion, with- 
out his eimobling traits. It has been said of him that, "by in- 
» 

1 A rebellion which aimed to set upon the throne the Protestant duke of Mon- 
mouth, illegitimate son of Charles II (1685), met with little support. Monmouth 
was put to death, and aU who were in any way impUcated were punished in the 
Bloody Assize, held by a brutal and servile judge named Jeffreys. Blackmore's 
novel, Lorna Doone, deals with these events. 



422 CONSTITUTIONAL MONARCHY IN ENGLAND 

credible and pertinacious [obstinate] folly, he irritated not 
only the classes which had fought against his father, but 

496. Tyr- also those that had fought for his father." The opposi- 
Jamesll ^^°^ arose chiefly from James's efforts, through the ex- 
(168S-1688) ercise of the "dispensing power," to free Catholics from 

the provisions of the Test Act and to set aside all laws impos- 
Bagehot, ing religious tests for offices. James thought that Prot- 
Comtitution ^stant dissenters would support his policy, but their fear 
351 of a Catholic restoration led them to join the opposition. 

The universities and clergy especially were alienated by his high- 
handed attempts to force Catholics into university offices. 

For a time the nation bore patiently with these illegal acts. 
James's two daughters were both Protestants, and the elder 
(Mary) was married to William III of Orange (§ 452). When 
James should die, therefore, a Protestant would come to the 
throne. In 1688, however, the birth of a son gave James 
an heir who would be educated as a Catholic, since James 
was now of that faith. About this time, also, James made a 
second attempt to set aside the laws against Catholics by the 
use of his "dispensing power." He even ordered all the clergy- 
men throughout England to read this edict from their pulpits. 
Seven of the leading bishops, in spite of their teaching that re- 
sistance to the king was sin, presented a petition to the king ask- 
ing to be excused from doing this. For their petition they were 
prosecuted, but the jury acquitted them of any wrongdoing. 
This unjust prosecution of the seven bishops brought matters 
to a head. Protestants claimed that the little prince was not 
really the son of James and his queen ; and Whigs and Tories 
alike united in an appeal to William III of Orange to save Eng- 
land from James's tyranny. 

Unfortunately for James, his friend Louis XIV had directed 
the French armies elsewhere just at this time, thus leaving 

497. The William free to invade England. Scarcely a blow was 
" Glorious struck in James's behalf, for the army which he had labo- 
tion " of riously built up proved untrustworthy. Deserted by prac- 
1688 . tically all his adherents, he lost courage and fled to France. 



REVOLUTION OF 1688 



423 



Nothing could have better served William's interests. A Par- 
liament, called on the advice of leading peers, decided : (i) 
That James by his actions had abdicated the government, and 
that the throne was vacant. (2) That it was ''inconsistent with 
the safety and welfare of this Protestant kingdom to be gov- 
erned by a Popish prince." (3) That the throne should be 
offered to William and Mary as joint sovereigns. 




The Flight of James II 
From an engraving by Romeyn de Hooghe 

A declaration of the "true, ancient, and indubitable rights 
of the people of this realm" was then made in the Bill of Rights, 
which settled the constitutional questions in controversy. 498. The 
It included the following points : — Rights 

1. That the pretended dispensing power by which James had ^^ ^^ 

evaded the laws was illegal. 

2. That the people have the right to petition the king. 

3. That keeping a standing army in time of peace, unless by consent 

of Parliament, is illegal. 

4. That freedom of speech and of debate in Parliament ought not 

to be questioned in any court or place outside of Parliament 
itself. 

5. That excessive bail ought not to be required in cases at law, nor 



424 CONSTITUTIONAL MONARCHY IN ENGLAND 

excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments in- 
flicted. 
6. William and Mary were proclaimed king and queen of England, and 
all persons who were Papists or who should marry a Papist were 
declared incapable of occupying the throne. 

The Bill of Rights, following Magna Carta (12 15) and the 
Petition of Right (1628), completed the structure of the con- 
stitutional monarchy. All the rulers of England, since the 
Revolution of 1688, have owed their throne ultimately to this 
act of Parliament. That fact has prevented the supremacy of 
Parliament ever again being called in question. 

E. Strengthening Constitutional Government 

The Catholic population of Ireland was loyal to James II, 
and he sought to regain there the power that he had lost in 
™.j England. But he was defeated by William in the battle 
liam III of the Boyne (1690), and Ireland was soon pacified. The 

(1 689-1 702) S(.Q^g followed the example of the English in d^eclaring 
James deposed and in accepting William and Mary ; but some 
severe fighting was necessary before James's adherents were 
forced into submission. The religious question in England was 
partly solved, in 1689, by the passage of a Toleration Act. This 
permitted Protestant dissenters, under certain restrictions, to 
set up their worship alongside that of the established church. 
The decline of religious hatreds to which this testifies was due 
in part to the growth of scientific knowledge. Sir Isaac Newton 
had just announced his discovery of the laws of gravitation; 
the composition of the atmosphere was being studied; botany 
was becoming a science ; Harvey had discovered the circulation 
of the blood; and the microscope had revealed the existence 
of minute animal life. Such increased knowledge of nature 
affected men's attitude in religion also, and helped to produce 
a growth in religious toleration. A further evidence of the 
progress of intelligence is seen in the fact that, after 171 2, no 
executions for witchcraft took place in England. 



STRENGTHENING CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT 425 

William's long struggle with Louis XIV (described in the 
preceding chapter) was the chief feature of England's foreign 
relations in this reign. In constitutional history the 500. In- 
strengthening of Parliament's ascendancy in the govern- po^gjof 
ment was the fact of chief interest. The Triennial Act Parliament 
of the Long Parliament had sought to make sure that not more 
than three years should elapse without a Parliament. A new 
Triennial Act now prohibited the continuance of a Parliament 
for more than three years, the period later being extended to 
seven years.^ Unlike the legislative bodies of the United States, 
English Parliaments are not elected for a fixed term, but last 
until dissolved. They must come to an end, however, before the 
expiration of the period named in the law. Annual sessions of 
Parliament were secured by the practice of voting taxes and the 
army bill for but one year at a time. If the government should 
fail to call Parliament to renew these, it would be left without 
legal revenue and without legal means of controlling the army. 
This practice effectually insures that the government will heed 
the voice of Parliament. 

The development of the Whig and Tory parties, with their 
definite political principles, made it easier to ascertain the voice 
of Parliament. Fully organized parliamentary govern- j^ 

ment, however, required also a center of influence. This of Cabinet 
was supplied by the Cabinet. In its present form the government 
Cabinet is practically a committee of members of the two houses 
of Parliament, who are in charge of the administration of the 
government. They are chosen nominally by the sovereign, but 
really by the prime minister. They are members of either one 
or the other of the two houses of Parliament, and belong to the 
party which has a majority in the House of Commons. The 
members of the English Cabinet have the chief executive powers 
of the government, and are also the leaders of the legislative 
branch. This is contrary to American practice, which requires 
that executive and legislative powers shall not be united in the 
same persons. The beginning of the Cabinet system was 

1 In 191 1 the maximum duration of Parliament was reduced to five years. 



426 



CONSTITUTIONAL MONARCHY IN ENGLAND 



made in 1694, when William for the first time chose his minis- 
ters entirely from one political party, — the Whigs. 

Mary died in 1694, and William in 1702. They left no chil- 
dren, and the throne passed to Anne, Mary's younger sister. 
502 Queen '^^^ ^°^§ ^^^ °^ ^^^ Spanish Succession (§§ 457-461) 
Anne (1702- was the chief feature of her reign, in foreign affairs. In 
^"^^^^ domestic affairs an important event was the merging of 

the two kingdoms of Scotland and England into the single 
kingdom of Great Britain (1707). By the terms of this Act of 
Union the Scottish Parliament came to an end, and Scottish 
representatives were thenceforth elected to both houses of the 
English Parliament. Anne was a stupid but good-natured 
woman, and struggles between Whigs and Tories for control of 
the government fill her reign. Although Anne had many chil- 
dren, they were weakly and died young. 

In 1 701 an Act of Settlement was passed which provided that, 
after the death of Anne, the throne should go to the descendants 
of the electress of Hanover, the nearest Protestant family de- 
scended from the house of Stuart.^ As Anne's death drew near, 

1 Hanover (§ 126) was given a vote in the imperial electoral college (the ninth) 
in 1692 ; it became a kingdom in 1815. The following genealogy shows the relation- 
ship of the house of Hanover to the house of Stuart : — 



_(i) James I (1603-1625) 
First Stuart King of England 



(2) Charies I (1625-1649) 



Elizabeth = Frederick V 

Elector Palatine 



Mary 

m. William II 

of Orange 



(3) Charles II 
(1660-1685) 

Duke of Monmouth 



(4) James II 

(1685-1688) 

(d. 1701) 



( 5 ) Wn-LiAM III=^=Mary (6) Anne 
(1689-1702) (d. 1694) (1702-1714) 



Rupert 
(d. 1682) 



James Edward 

the Old Pretender 

(d. 1766) 

I 

Charles Edward, 

the Young Pretender 

(d. 1788) 



Sophia 
Electress 
of Hanover 

(7) George I 
(1714-1727) 

(8) George II 
(1727-1760) 

I 

Frederick, 

Prince of Wales 

(d. 17S1) 

I 

(9) George III 

(1760-1820) 

(see p. 639) 



STRENGTHENING CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT 427 

the Tories, who were then in power, opposed the Hanoverian 
succession. It was only the sudden termination of Anne's last 
illness, and the firmness of the Whig leaders, that prevented a 
second Stuart restoration. 

George I (171 4- 1727), the first Hanoverian king of Great 
Britain, was commonplace and a thorough German.^ His 
ignorance of the English language led him to absent him- 503. First 
self from Cabinet meetings, thus establishing a precedent ^Irians^"' 
which greatly increased the independence of the ministry. (1714-1760) 
A "Jacobite" rising in favor of the Old Pretender (James Ed- 
ward, son of James II), in 171 5, was easily put down. A daring 
invasion by the Young Pretender (Charles Edward, grandson of 
James II), in 1745, which penetrated from Scotland to the heart 
of England and caused a panic at London, failed equally be- 
cause of a lack of English support. The government under 
both George I and George II (17 2 7-1 760) was for twenty-one 
years in the hands of Sir Robert Walpole, the first real prime 
minister in English history. His policy was to strengthen the 
Hanoverian dynasty, maintain peace, and allow free develop- 
ment to English industry and commerce. He was supported 
by the Whig party, which was composed largely of dissenters 
and the middle classes. He was opposed by the Tory squires 
and Anglican clergymen, who long preserved a secret loyalty 
to the exiled Stuarts. This period is characterized by the pros- 
perity of agriculture and commerce, the wide prevalence of 
political corruption, and a great religious revival under John and 
Charles Wesley (the "Methodists ")• 

In England, Germany, and France the literature of the eight- 
eenth century possessed certain features in common, in spite 
of local peculiarities. In the early part of the century it was ar- 

1 Hanover was connected with the British crown from the accession of George I 
in 1714 to the accession of Queen Victoria in 1837. Though Great Britain and 
Hanover were subject to the same sovereign, their governments were entirely sep 
arate and independent. Hanover was usually ruled by a deputy who was responsible 
to the king-elector. Both George I and George II preferred Hanover to England 
as a place of residence, and spent a considerable part of their time in their conti- 
nental dominion. 



428 CONSTITUTIONAL MONARCHY IN ENGLAND 

tificial and closely followed classical forms. In the latter part 
came a return to nature and the beginning of what is known as 

504. English the Romantic movement. In Great Britain, the first half 
literature in ^f ^j^g century saw the works of Addison and Steele, joint 
eenth authors of the polished essays called the Spectator; 
century Qf Jonathan Swift, the satirist; of Defoe, best known by 

his Robinson Crusoe; and of the poet Alexander Pope (1688- 
1744). The second half of the century saw the works of Field- 
ing and Richardson, who developed the modern English novel ; 
the essays and English dictionary of Dr. Samuel Johnson (1709- 
1784), whose life was entertainingly written by his friend Boswell ; 
and the history of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, 
by Edward Gibbon. The reaction toward Romanticism is seen 
in the Scottish poet, Robert Burns (i 759-1 796). 

It was England's insular position which had protected her 
from foreign interference while passing through the political 

505. Sum- crises of the seventeenth century, as it had while passing 
maryof through the religious revolution of the sixteenth. Three 
toryinthe^" P^-ssions animated Englishmen in this period: — 
seventeenth (i) The sentiment of loyalty, which long protected 
century Charles I, recalled Charles II from exile, and disturbed 

the security of the Hanoverians by Jacobite risings. 

(2) Hatred of Catholicism, which put Charles I to death, 
raised up Cromwell, and exiled James II. 

(3) Attachment to political liberty. "When the quarrel be- 
tween the loyalists and the anti-papists had been settled, and 

Lavisse, foreigners, — first a Dutchman and then the Hanoverians, — 

General succeeded to the throne of England, the dominant passion 

View, 109— <z> / i 

III became that of liberty." Under the system of govern- 

ment which followed. Parliament could do almost everything 
without the king, but he could do nothing without Parlia- 
ment. "Against its own government the country defended 
itself by means of its rights and liberties. It had private rights, 
whereby the person of an Englishman, his domicile, and his 
purse were rendered inviolable against all illegal acts ; and pub- 
lic rights, — namely, the right of complaint and petition, the 



TOPICS AND REFERENCES 429 

right of meeting, the right of association, the right to speak and 
to write. England was free ; indeed, in the eighteenth century 
she was the only free nation in the world." 

IMPORTANT DATES 

1603. Stuarts ascend the throne in the person of James I. 

1607. Virginia colony founded. 

1625. Accession of Charles I. 

1628. Petition of Right passed. 

1 629-1640. Period of arbitrary government. 

1640. Long Parliament assembled. 

1642. Civil war between king and Parliament begun. 

1649. Execution of Charles I; England becomes a republic. 

1658. Death of Cromwell. 

1660. Long Parliament dissolved and the Stuarts restored. 

1685. Death of Charles II. 

1688. Flight of James II (the " Glorious Revolution"). 

1689. "William and Mary seated on the throne ; Bill of Rights passed. 
1702. Accession of Queen Anne. 

1 714. Hanoverian line ascends the throne with George I. 

TOPICS AND REFERENCES 

Suggestive Topics. — (i) Why did absolute monarchy not succeed in 
England as it did in France? (2) In the contest between James I and his 
Parliaments, which was seeking to introduce a change? (3) What were 
the chief causes of the failure of Charles I as king ? (4) Was the execution 
of Strafford and Laud Just or unjust ? (5) Was toleration in religion most 
likely to come from Charles I, the Long Parliament, the Scots, or the army ? 
(6) Was the execution of Charles just or unjust ? Was it expedient or in- 
expedient ? (7) Was Cromwell an ambitious usurper or a sincere patriot ? 
(8) Was Charles II a good or a bad king ? Why ? (9) Why did all sects 
of English Protestants unite in refusing toleration to Roman Catholics in 
the seventeenth century? (10) Why did Englishmen turn to William III 
of Orange? (11) Did the Bill of Rights enact new principles ? (12) Re- 
view the steps in the growth of Parliament before the seventeenth cen- 
tury. (13) What were the chief developments in the seventeenth 
century with respect to Parliament? (14) How did the Hanoverian 
succession help the growth of constitutional principles ? 

Search Topics. — (i) Rise of Puritanism. Green, Short History, 460- 
469. Compare Gardiner, Puritan Revolution, 1-6, 13-17, with Firth, 



43° 



CONSTITUTIONAL MONARCHY IN ENGLAND 



Oliver Cromwell, lo-ii. — (2) Puritan Emigration to North America. 
Fiske,. Beginnings of New England, chs. ii, iii ; Green, Short History, 505- 
509. — (3) Stuart Abuse of the Prerogative. Montague, Constitutional 
History, 120-124; Dale, Principles of English Constitutional History, 313- 
321; Hallam, Constitutional History, ch. viii. — (4) Laud's Religious 
Policy. Gardiner, Student's History, 516-521; Green, Short History, 
509-513. — (5) John Hampden and the Ship Money Case. Macaulay, 
Essays ("John Hampden"); Green, Short History, 528-531. — (6) John 
Pym. Goldwin Smith, Three English Statesmen. — (7) Attempted Arrest 
OF the Five Members. Green, Short History, 544-546 ; Cheyney, Read- 
ings, 460-463. — (8) Trial and Execution of Charles I. Green, Short 
History, 571-572; Cheyney, Readings, 485-494. — (9) Oliver Cromwell. 
Morley, Cromwell, 1-6, 461-472; Firth, Cromwell, ch. xxiii; Gardiner, 
Cromwell's Place in History, lect. 6. — • (10) Charles II and the Reactiok 
against Puritanism. Green, Short History, 605-608, 629-632 ; Macaulay, 
History of England, I, ch. iii. — • (11) Great Fire in London. Cheyney, 
Readings, 524-528; Henderson, Side Lights on English History, 124-142; 
Pepys, Diary (for Sept. 2-6, 1666). — (12) Revolution of 1688. Traill, 
William III, 19-55; Gardiner, Student's History, 643-648; Green, Short 
History, 677-683. — (13) Rise of the Cabinet. Montague, English 
Constitutional History, 163-173; Morley, Walpole, ch. vii. — (14) Union 
of Scotland and England. Lecky, England in the Eighteenth Century, 
II, 52-66; Montague, English Constitutional History, 158-161. 

General Reading. — Gardiner's First Two Stuarts and the Puritan Revolu- 
tion is the best short book on the subject of this chapter. His larger works 
(17 vols.) are the standard authority, but .are too comprehensive for high 
school use. Morley's Cromwell is also excellent. Macaulay's History of Eng- 
land (various editions) deals with the period from 1685 to 1701; the third 
chapter gives a brilliant account of the state of society at the accession of 
James II. Pepys's Diary is full of interest for the reign of Charles II. Ad- 
vanced students may make use of the admirable articles in the Dictionary 
of National Biography. 



CHAPTER XXII 
THE RISE OF RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA 

A. Rise of Russia and Decline op Sweden 

"Russia is the last-born child of European civilization.'^ 
During the whole of the Middle Ages its history may be neglected, 
because it was the history of barbarism, not of civilization, 506. Russia 
— of Asia, not of Europe. In the ninth century, Rurik pLgr^+ije 
the Northman had established his sway over the Slavic Great 
tribes of the Russian plain (§ 46) ; in the tenth century his de- 
scendants had received Greek Christianity from Constantinople. 
For nearly two huriared and forty years (after 1241) the "Golden 
Horde" of Mongols were suzerains over the land. Poland, 
seizing the western districts, placed herself between Germany and 
Russia, and seemed about to develop permanently into a power- 
ful Slavic kingdom. 

In 1480, however, the grand duke of Mus'covy cast off the 
Mongolian yoke, and set about the creation of an independent 
Russian state. Now that Constantinople had fallen before 
the Turks, Moscow claimed to be its heir and its avenger. By 
the middle of the sixteenth century, the Russian boundary was 
pushed to the Caspian Sea. In 1613 the Romanoffs (ro-ma'nofs), 
ancestors (in the female line) of the present ruling dynasty, 
ascended the throne. Under the early rulers of this house the 
beginning was made of that eastward expansion — paralleled 
in United States history by the "winning of the West" — which 
gave Siberia to Russia. But internally barbarism still ruled, 
and externally Russia was cut off from European politics. 

In both these respects a revolution was effected by the hero 
of Russian history, Peter the Great (1689-1725). His character 
was a strange mixture of nobility and cruelty, of culture and 

431 



432 



THE RISE OF RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA 



savagery. When aroused to anger he cut off his enemies' 

507. Early heads with his own hands. He presided at the torture 

Pefertiie ^^'^ death of his reactionary eldest son. His drunken 

Great sprees sometimes lasted for days. Yet his nature was 

truthful, simple, and straightforward, and no one could be a 

truer friend to those who deserved his friendship. 




Russia: Conquests of Peter the Great 



RISE OF RUSSIA AND DECLINE OF SWEDEN 



433 




Peter the Great 



Peter's reign really began in 1689, when he was seventeen 
years old. While still a lad, he manifested that passion for 
western arts and for warfare which 
proved to be his most prominent 
characteristics. He loved to slip 
away to the part of Moscow fre- 
quented by foreign merchants, to 
pick up a knowledge of German 
and Dutch, and learn something 
of European science and inven- 
tions. In a shed by the river he 
discovered a forgotten sailboat, 
which fired him with a desire to 
learn navigation and shipbuilding ; 
and this half-rotten boat became 
the "grandfather of the Russian fleet." Playing at war led to 
the formation of a company of soldiers equipped in European 
fashion and commanded by a German officer ; and this proved 
the beginning of a new Russian army. In two expeditions 
(1695 and 1696), Azof (a'zof), on the Black Sea, was captured, 
and the value of the young Tsar's ^ "amusements" was made 
manifest. 

But the Russian nobility, the Russian priesthood, the old 
Russian army, were hostile to change. To obtain that first- 
hand knowledge of the West which was necessary to over- g pg^gj.), 
come Muscovite inertia, Peter, with a large suite (in 1697 jovirney of 
and 1698), made a "journey of instruction" to Germany, "^s*^'^<=*^°'^ 
Holland, and England. In Holland he worked for some time 
in the shipyards, disguised as a common sailor. Wherever he 
went he refused honors, in order to visit workshops and labora- 
tories. Anatomical and natural history collections were ex- 
amined, as well as sawmills, paper mills, flour mills, printing 
offices, and the like. His constant utterance was, "I must see." 



^This is the better form of the title, though it is often written "Czar." For- 
merly it was supposed to be derived from the Latin Caesar (German, Kaiser, i.e. 
Emperor), but this view is now disputed. « 



434 THE RISE OF RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA 

On his way to Venice, Peter was recalled home by a revolt of 
the old Russian army (Streltsi), which had long played a part 
509. Con- similar to that of the praetorian guard in Roman history, 
opposition ^^^ native savagery burst out in fearful vengeance, and 
broken the revolt was used to do away entirely with such danger- 

ous troops. By refusing to appoint a successor to the last pa- 
triarch of Moscow (died in 1700), and by later committing the 
direction of the Russian Greek Church to a Holy Synod, Peter 
broke the power of the priesthood, and thus weakened a second 
center of blind conservatism. The nobles were gradually de- 
pressed, until (in 1711) the Tsar felt strong enough to forbid 
them for the future to hold their council, and so ended their 
political power. Thus army, church, and nobility alike were 
rendered powerless to oppose reform. 

A series of "ukases," or decrees, appeared meanwhile which 
reformed Russia's institutions — central, provincial, and mu- 
nicipal ; social, military, and educational. Western shipbuilders? 
engineers, and physicians were invited into the land, under 
promise of security, rewards, and religious toleration. Shaved 
faces and the short-cut sleeves of the West replaced at the 
Russian court the long beards and flowing sleeves of the East. 
In spite of all efiEorts, "Holy Moscow," the center of Russian 
conservatism, remained hostile to Peter's measures. Russia 
Reason ^^^^ needed a maritime capital. Since Archangel (on the 
for war with White Sea) was closed by ice for more than half the year, 
Sweden ^^^ ^^^^ 1^^^ ^j^^ -gj^^,]^ gg^>) ^^^ ^^^ ^q ^^^^^ ^-^^ ]yj-g^_ 

terranean by the Turks at Constantinople, a port on the Baltic 
was a necessity. But both shores of that sea were in the hands 
of Sweden. To gain the site for a Baltic port, Peter the Great 
embarked upon a war against the Swedish king, Charles XII, 
who had just ascended the throne as a boy of fifteen. Poland 
and Denmark joined in the attack. But the allies miscalculated 
the character of the young king, for Charles XII possessed excep- 
tional ability and power, with a positive genius for war. 

Without waiting for attack, Charles took the offensive and 
invaded Denmark. Before her allies could come up, Denmark 



RISE OF RUSSIA AND DECLINE OF SWEDEN 435 

was forced to make peace (August, 1700). Then Charles 

turned to meet the Tsar, who was attacking the Swedish 

provinces on the Gulf of Finland. With 8000 disciplined 511. Be- 

men against the 60,000 still half-trained troops of Peter, ^^^^^ °J 

T>.T /-KT *^® North- 

Charles won a brilhant victory at Narva (November, era War 

1700). Poland was next invaded, and there for five years (^700) 

the war continued. Charles was completely successful here 

also; and Poland was obliged to accept a ruler of Charles's 

choice, and to withdraw from the Russian alliance. 

Peter the Great, meanwhile, had conquered the Swedish prov- 
inces about the Gulf of Finland. There, amid the marshes and 
low-lying islands about the mouth of the river Neva, he 512. Found- 
began, in 1703, to build his new capital, St. Petersburg. Petersburg 
To deepen the channels and make ready the land for build- (1703) 
ing purposes, an army of peasants was set to work. The level 
of the islands was raised, and countless piles were driven into 
the swampy ground as supports for the heavy foundations of 
the buildings. Lack of provisions and shelter, with constant 
toil in the cold and wet, cost thousands of Hves. Every cart 
entering the place, and every vessel sailing up the Neva, was 
forced to bring a specified quantity of building stones, while the 
construction of stone buildings in other parts of the empire was 
temporarily forbidden. To furnish inhabitants for the new city, 
thirty thousand peasants were transported thither at one stroke. 
The nobles also were required to maintain houses in the new cap- 
ital proportionate to their means. To beautify the city, foreign 
workmen and artists were imported. Thus Peter obtained his 
coveted "window toward the West," and freed his successors 
from the trammels of conservative Moscow. 

In the spring of 1708 Charles XII invaded Russia, where he 
hoped to rival the exploits of Alexander the Great in Asia. The 
Russians refused battle (as they later did against Napo- 513. Charles 
leon) and retired upon Moscow, with the Swedes in pur- Rygsja 
suit. The winter, the most severe for a century, passed (1708) 
with Moscow still untaken. Spring found Charles in the ex- 
treme south of Russia, with reenforcements and supplies cut off, 



436 THE RISE OF RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA 

laying siege to the fortified city of Poltava. To the advice that 
he retreat while there was yet opportunity, he replied, "If an 
angel should descend from heaven and order me to depart from 
here, I would not go." When Peter arrived to relieve the city, 
the Swedes found themselves outnumbered two to one, and 
were defeated. Charles's army was almost entirely destroyed 
or captured, and he himself escaped with difficulty to Turkish 
soil. 

With unbending obstinacy Charles XII stirred up the Sultan 
to war against Russia. The Russian army was entrapped by the 

514. Death Turks, but Peter purchased peace by the return of Azof 
of Charles to Turkey. Charles XII was indignant at this peace, 

^^"^^ and behaved like a madman. At last he was expelled 
from Turkey, and with but two companions returned to Sweden. 
He found his outlying territories almost entirely lost, and the 
Swedish power in ruins. Four years later, while attempting 
the conquest of Norway, his adventurous life was ended in the 
siege of a petty fortress. 

The death of Charles XII made it easier to end the Northern 
War, and peace between Sweden and Russia was made in 1721. 

515. End of The former government was restored in Poland. Most of 
the North- c j > • • r^ /■e \ • j. 
em War Sweden s possessions m Germany (§ 434) were given to 

(1721) Prussia and Hanover. Russia secured the provinces 

about the Gulf of Finland, — the lion's share of the booty. 
Sweden, whose power had been founded chiefly on the army 
created by Gustavus Adolphus, now sank to the position of a 
second-rate state ; while Russia, whose power was based ulti- 
mately upon her vast territories and the numbers of her people, 
rose to the position of foremost power in the North. 

At the death of Peter the Great, in 1725, Russia had taken on 
the forms of a modern state. But the ancient government 

516. Russia changed its form without changing its substance. Russia 
the^Great remained at bottom an oriental state, with a heritage of 
( 1 725-1 796) manners and ideas borrowed mainly from Byzantine and 

Mongol civilization. For seventy years, excepting three brief 
intervals, the government was in the hands of women. It was 



THE RISE OF PRUSSIA 437 

a time of palace revolutions, of struggles between native Russians 
and foreign favorites, and between oligarchical and absolutist fac- 
tions. The Empress Elizabeth (i 741-1762), daughter of Peter 
the Great, adopted a reactionary policy at home, but acted 
vigorously in foreign affairs. The immoral but energetic Cath- 
erine II (i 762-1 796) is accounted one of the chief founders of 
the Russian Empire. She extended the boundaries of her 
country in every direction, and fostered western civilization. 
Russia now reached to the heart of Asia. It was the only 
country of Europe that could increase indefinitely by absorbing 
barbarian lands. 

B. The Rise of Prussia 

The seventeenth and eighteenth centuries saw also the rise 
to power of another northern state, — Prussia. Since 141 5 the 
electorate of Brandenburg had been a possession of the 517. union 
house of HohenzoUern (ho-en-tsol'ern), the family of °* Branden 
the present German Emperor; but until the seven- Prussia 
teenth century there was nothing to show that this ter- (i6i8) 
ritory was destined to leadership among German states. The 
first half of the seventeenth century, however, brought three 
events of importance in the growth of its power. 

(i) Some small territories upon the Rhine were acquired by 
inheritance in 1609. These gave Brandenburg a footing in 
western Germany. 

(2) In 1618 a large part of the region known as Prussia was 
acqmred. This land had been conquered from the heathen 
Slavs in the thirteenth century by the Teutonic Knights (§ 163) ; 
but Poland had annexed its western hah, and forced the Knights 
to hold East Prussia as a fief of the Polish crown. At the time 
of the Reformation the Grand Master of the Knights, who was a 
member of the HohenzoUern family, dissolved the order on 
Luther's advice, and made its territory a secular duchy. In 
1618 his line became extinct, and the duchy fell, by previous 
arrangements, to the Brandenburg fine of HohenzoUern. This 



438 



THE RISE OF RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA 



acquisition almost doubled the territories of the elector of 
Brandenburg, and paved the way for future growth. 

(3) The accession of "the Great Elector," Frederick William, 
in 1640, did much to remove the ill effects of the Thirty Years' 
518. Gains War. To natural gifts of a high order, he added the ad- 
Elector ^^^ vantages of education at a Dutch university. The terri- 
(1640-1688) tories to which he succeeded lay in three widely separated 
groups, — the Brandenburg territories, the Rhine territories, 
and the Prussian territories. The consolidation, increase, and 
development of these nuclei became his life work. 




Growth of Brandenburg-Prussia 



By the treaty of Westphalia (1648), Frederick William se- 
cured eastern Pomerania, together with a group of secularized 
bishoprics on the west. Brandenburg was thus brought to the 
sea, while the gaps separating it from its sister territories were 
narrowed. By adroitly using the opportunities offered by wars 
between Sweden and Poland, Frederick William obtained, in 
1660, his highest political triumph, — a renunciation of Polish 
lordship over Prussia. His greatest military success was an over- 
whelming victory over the Swedes in 1675. 

While increasing his dominions and enhancing his prestige 
abroad, Frederick William also busied himself with internal 
reforms. Commerce, manufactures, and agriculture were all 
encouraged. Roads were built, and a waterway, — the Fred- 



THE RISE OF PRUSSIA 



439 



erick William Canal, — by joining the Oder to a branch of the 
Elbe, secured a free outlet to the North Sea (map, p. 438). 
French Huguenot immigrants to the number of twenty jjj^ 

thousand were made welcome, their skill and industry internal 
proving a valuable acquisition. The army was brought to ^® °^™^ 
a high degree of perfection. The administration of the three 
groups of territories was merged into one, and absolutism was 
established. We may regret the lost liberties of the Estates, 
but the unity, strength, and good order of the realm were thereby 
increased. The work of Frederick William is well summarized 
by his great-grandson, Frederick II : "With small means he did 
great things. He was himself his own prime minister and gen- 
eral in chief, and rendered flourishing a state which he had found 
buried under its own ruins." 

The Great Elector's less capable son, Frederick, added to his 
electoral and ducal titles the higher one of king. "Great in 
small things and small in great things," his mind dwelt 520. Prus- 
much upon matters of etiquette and ceremonial. At an a'kingdom^^ 
interview with William III, the latter as king of England (1701) 
occupied an armchair, while Elector Frederick was given one 
without arms. Thenceforth offended dignity joined with mo- 
tives of policy in urging him to seek the royal title. The head 
of the Holy Roman Empire was the source from which such honor 
should come, and the need of military assistance forced him (in 
1 701) to grant the coveted dignity. The Emperor's pride was 
saved, while fuller independence was achieved for the new king, 
by making the title read "Frederick I, King in Prussia," — for 
Prussia lay outside the limits of the Empire.^ 

Frederick's son. King Frederick William I, resembled his 
grandfather, the Great Elector, in his diligence, economy, and 
careful attention to administration, and his father in his 521. Fred- 
tendency to eccentricities. The Prussian-Brandenburg enck Wii- 
lands were without defensible frontiers, and were sur- (1713-1740) 

1 The title was made King in Prussia to save the feelings of the king of Poland, 
who in 1701 still ruled western Prussia. Later the title was changed to King of 
Prussia. 



440 



THE RISE OF RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA 



rounded by hostile neighbors. Their head, therefore, could 
rise to independent greatness only through military power. 
This required as its basis both industrial development of 
his lands, and absolutism in the government. Realizing this, 
the new king's aims were directed, to securing a strong army 
and a well-filled treasury, and to fostering industry. Economies 
were made in every department; for example, the number of 
the king's riding horses was cut down from one thousand to 
thirty. A rigid supervision, the beginning of the Prussian bu- 
reaucracy, was also introduced to prevent wastefulness and theft. 
Careful attention was given to increasing the royal revenues, 
in part through a better administration of the crown lands. 
Manufactures were encouraged, and foreign weavers were in- 
duced to settle in Prussia by the offer of a wife, a loom, and a 
supply of raw material. When the Catholic archbishop of 
Salzburg (in 1731) drove out his Protestant subjects, fifteen 
thousand of them were received in Prussia, where they founded 
six new towns and many villages. The Prussian nobles, who 
had the old feudal dislike of paying taxes, 
were forced by Frederick William to pay their 
full share. To a remonstrance that by his 
changes "the whole country would be ruined," 
the king bluntly replied, "I don't believe a 
word of it, but I do believe the political inde- 
pendence of the country nobles will be ruined." 
Under Frederick William's fostering care the 
Prussian army was doubled in numbers and 
The greatly increased in efficiency. Tall 
king's tall soldiers were his hobby ; and through 
the payment of large sums of money, 
through kidnaping, and through presents of 
giants from friendly powers, he obtained a 

palace guard that was the wonder of Europe. 9^^^^'^ Soldier of 
^ ° '^ Frederick William 

He watched over his "children in blue" like 

a father; but his ready cane chastised them for the slightest 

offense. 



soldiers 




THE RISE OF PRUSSIA 441 

Not merely soldiers, but servants, citizens, and even his chil- 
dren suffered chastisement when they incurred the royal ire. 
Frederick William's eye and stick were everywhere. His idea 
of kingship was patriarchal absolutism. He was a ruder, sim- 
pler, more primitive Louis XIV. He would establish his sov- 
ereignty, he wrote, "like a rock of bronze." Even his famous 
''tobacco parliament," where officers, citizens, scholars, and 
foreign travelers smoked and drank with him, would on occasion 
be converted into an informal council of state, at which the 
weightiest measures were discussed. In his only war — waged 
as a part of the Northern War against Charles XII — he ac- 
quired a part of Swedish (western) Pomerania, and the con- 
venient port of Stettin (ste-ten') , at the mouth of the river Oder. 

Within the little more than a hundred years that had elapsed 
from the union of Brandenburg and Prussia (in 1618) to the 
death of King Frederick William (in 1740) the Prussian Review 

power had made great strides. Its territory had doubled, of Prussia's 
its holder had been raised to the rank of king, its popu- P^°sress 
lation and revenues had been increased, its government reformed 
and strengthened, and the basis of yet further growth laid in the 
well-filled treasury and well-drilled army which were the especial 
creations of King Frederick William I. What could be done 
with these means was to be made manifest by his son and suc- 
cessor, Frederick the Great. 

IMPORTANT DATES 

1415. Hohenzollem family secured Brandenburg. 
1480. Russia freed from Mongol rule. 
1 618. Brandenburg and Prussia united. 

1688. Death of the Great Elector. 

1689. Peter the Great begins to rule in Russia. 

1 701. Elector of Brandenburg-Prussia gains title of king. 

1703. Founding of St. Petersburg. 

1708. Charles XII of Sweden invades Russia. 

1725. Death of Peter the Great. 

1740. Death of Frederick William I of Prussia. 

1762. Catherine II ascends Russian throne. 



442 THE RISE OF RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA 

TOPICS AND REFERENCES 

Suggestive Topics. — (i) Compare the condition of Russia at the acces- 
sion of Peter the Great with that of the Prankish kingdom at the accession 
of Charlemagne. (2) What advantages had Peter over Cliarlemagne in 
developing his state ? (3) Was Charles XII or Peter the Great the better 
general? (4) Which was the better statesman? (5) What territorial 
advantages had Russia over other European states ? What disadvantages ? 
(6) State in your own words what Peter the Great did for Russia. (7) Sum 
up the steps in the rise of the kingdom of Prussia. (8) How did Frederick 
William earn the title "the Great Elector"? (9) Was King Frederick 
William I a good or a bad ruler? Why? (10) Why was the growth in 
power of Russia and Prussia important ? (11) On what grounds could abso- 
lute government for Prussia be justified at that time ? Do these reasons 
exist to-day ? 

Search Topics. — (i) Russia before Peter the Great. Rambaud, 
History of Russia, I, ch. xx; Wakeman, Ascendancy of France, 297-300; 
Morfill, Story of Russia, chs. v-vi. — - (2) Peter's Travels in the West. " 
Motley, Peter the Great, 7-27; Browning, Peter the Great, ch. x; Robinson 
and Beard, Readings, 1, 57-61. — (3) Reforms of Peter the Great. 
Johnson, Age of the Enlightened Despot, 99-105; Schuyler, Peter the Great, 
I, ch. XXV ; II, chs. Ivii, Ixiii; Rambaud, i?Mma, II, ch. iii. — (4) Founding 
of St. Petersburg. Schuyler, Peter the Great, II, ch. xlvi. — (5) Charxes 
XII OF Sweden. Bain, Charles XII. — (6) Origin of the Hohenzollern 
Family. Henderson, Short History of Germany, II, 1-2. — (7) Reforms 
OF the Great Elector. Henderson, Short History, II, 22-24; Tuttle, 
History of Prussia, 1, 226-250. — (8) Frederick William I. Henderson, 
Short History, Tl, ch. ii, 87-104; Lavisse, Youth of Frederick the Great, ch. ii. 

General Reading. — For Russia the histories by Rambaud and by Morfill 
are the best. Henderson's Short History of Germany (2 vols.) is the best 
brief account of its subject. Fuller accounts may be found in Tuttle's His- 
tory of Prussia (4 vols.), and in the Cambridge Modern History. 



CHAPTER XXIII 

WIDENING AREA OF EUROPEAN RIVALRY (1715-1789) 

The period between the death of Louis XIV and the out- 
break of the French Revolution (in 1789) was one of almost 
constant warfare between the Powers of Europe. At 524- Gen- 
first glance the wars seem a mere continuation of the ^resTf'the 
dreary struggles of the preceding period, caused by the period 
desire of certain states to increase their territories, and of others 
to maintain the Balance of Power. France continued to de- 
cline in power, and Prussia and Russia to rise in the European 
scale. One great European state — Poland — totally disap- 
peared as a result of the unscrupulous attacks of its neighbors. 
But the area of the struggles was now widened. North America 
and far-off India became the scenes of important European con- 
flicts. Other issues than that of the Balance of Power in Europe 
were evidently at stake. A close examination of the period 
shows that these contests were largely for colonial empire and 
sea power. Perhaps the most important outcome was the fact 
that Great Britain succeeded in this period in laying the founda- 
tions of her vast empire, through which have spread the principles 
of personal liberty and constitutional government. The tangled 
threads of the political history of this time may best be grouped 
under these three heads : (i) The further growth of Prussia 
through the wars and works of Frederick the Great. (2) The 
founding of the British Empire through successful warfare with 
France and the colonization of AustraUa. (3) The partitions of 
Poland by Russia, Prussia, and Austria. In these three develop- 
ments the political history of the world was being settled for 
many generations to come. 

443 



444 



WIDENING AREA OF EUROPEAN RIVALRY 



the Great 



A. Prussia under Frederick the Great 

The education which Frederick WilKam I of Prussia planned 

for his son and heir, the future Frederick the Great, was hard, 

525. Youth practical, and matter-of-fact. The prince's own inclina- 

of Frederick tions, joined to his mother's and teacher's secret efforts, 

supplemented this with studies in literature, music, and 

art. Young Frederick showed himself as self-willed as his 

father, and ill-feeling sprang up which was increased by a public 

flogging. To make matters 
worse, the prince, who was an 
officer in the Prussian army, 
attempted to flee from the 
kingdom. This was military 
desertion, an offense which the 
laws of war made punishable 
with death. For a time the 
old king was with difficulty 
restrained from inflicting this 
extreme penalty. Finally he 
contented himself with the be- 
heading, before Frederick's 
eyes, of the prince's friend 
and accomplice, and the close 
imprisonment of Frederick 
himself. This harsh treat- 
ment went far to cure the 
prince of his persistent folly. 
Then followed the "second education" of young Frederick. 
To discipline him and train him in the practical work of admin- 
istration, his father set him to work in the War and Domain 
Office as assistant clerk. The harsh treatment he received 
sobered and strengthened Frederick, and prepared him for his 
duties as king ; but it also developed in him bitterness and hypoc- 
risy. His apprenticeship over, he was restored to favor, and 
soon was allowed to set up a little court of his own, where he 




Frederick the Great 
From a painting by J. MoUer 



PRUSSIA UNDER FREDERICK THE GREAT 



445 



surrounded himself with a briUiant circle. He entered into 
correspondence with the skeptical French philosopher Voltaire 
(§ 560), and he wrote a refutation of the political treatise of 
Machiavelli (§ 333). To a superficial observer, Frederick II 
seemed likely to prove anything but the unscrupulous master 
of war and of statecraft that his reign showed him to be. 

Frederick II succeeded to the throne in 1740, at the age of 
twenty-eight. A few months later the Emperor Charles V^I 

died. He left no son, 526. The 
but he had secured the gjJesia 
assent of Europe (includ- (1740) 
ing Prussia) to a document 
called the Pragmatic Sanction, 
which recognized Charles's 
daughter, Maria Theresa, as 
queen over all the Austrian 
dominions. 

This was Frederick's oppor- 
tunity. He desired above all 
else military glory, and he had 
at his back the finest army in 
Europe and a well-filled treas- 
ure chest. " It is only a matter 
of carrying out plans," he 
wrote, "which I have long 
had in my head." Without a 
declaration of war, and in the 
dead of winter (1740), he threw his army into the Austrian 
province of Silesia (si-le'shi-a), to which he advanced some 
shadowy claims! It was sheer brigandage. The Austrians 
were taken unprepared, and were easily defeated. The effi- 
ciency of the Prussian army was proved, and Europe recognized 
that a new power had arisen. 

At once Spain, France, Savoy, Bavaria, and Saxony set up 
claims of various sorts to parts of the Hapsburg dominions. 
There followed the general War of the Austrian Succession 




Maria Theresa 
From a painting by J. Moller 




44^ 



PRUSSIA UNDER FREDERICK THE GREAT 447 

(i 741-1748). Great Britain (whose king as elector of Hanover 
had important interests in Germany) took up arms on the side 
of Austria. For four years the position of Emperor, so 527- War of 
long held by a Hapsburg, was filled by the elector of sucfeTsion" 
Bavaria; but upon his death (in 1745) Maria Theresa se- (1741-1748) 
cured the election of her husband, the amiable Francis I. The 
Hungarians and Austrians ralHed nobly to the support of their 
young queen. She, for her part, showed unexpected courage, 
eloquence, and governing ability. Her subjects were ready 
to die for her ; even her enemies respected and admired her. 

After having once made — and broken — a treaty, Frederick 
II again made peace in 1745. Having got what he wanted, he 
agreed to retire from the war. In return Maria Theresa agreed 
that he should keep his conquered province of Silesia. 

Meanwhile the area of the war was widening. "From the 
banks of the Oder, the war spread successively to the banks of 
the Danube, the Elbe, the Po, then to the Scheldt and 528. Peace 
the Meuse, and beyond the seas." French and English qi^^^qi^' 
colonists in North America engaged in the conflict, as (1748) 
in the days of Louis XIV, in furtherance of their rival inter- 
ests. In India, also, French and English traders fought each 
other to determine which should control the commerce of that 
rich and populous country.^ But for the settlement of these 
wider interests the time was not yet ripe. All parties grew 
tired of the war, and at Aix-la-Chapelle, in 1748, a general 
peace was signed. Its terms were as follows : — 

1. Maria Theresa was recognized as ruler of the Hapsburg lands, 

except Silesia. 

2. Silesia was again confirmed to Prussia. 

3. All other conquests were mutually restored. 

1 The historian Macaulay, in his essay on Frederick the Great, says: "In order 
that he might rob a neighbor whom he had promised to defend, black men fought on 
the coast of Coromandel [India], and red men scalped each other by the Great Lakes 
of North America." This view fails to take account of the real conflict of interests 
between English and French, which caused the extension of the war to India and to 
America. Their rivalries would have led to war in America and in the Far East even 
if Frederick had never seized Silesia, 



448 WIDENING AREA OF EUROPEAN RIVALRY 

The peace of Aix-la-Chapelle was far from proving a perma- 
nent settlement. Maria Theresa bitterly resented the provision 

529. The which left Silesia in the hands of Frederick the Great, 
revolution France, moreover, felt that her prestige was lowered by 
(1756) the rapid rise of Prussia, and that her interests in India 

and North America were threatened by the growth of English 
trade and colonization. Nevertheless, renewal of war was post- 
poned for eight years. During this time a change in alliances 
took place which amounted to a diplomatic revolution. Austria 
and France laid aside their enmity of the past two hundred years 
and formed an alliance which continued till the French Revolu- 
tion. At the same time a coolness arose between England and 
Austria, for neither state was much interested in the objects of 
the other. The British king, to safeguard his German territory 
(Hanover), then entered into a treaty of alliance with Frederick 
II of Prussia. Both England and France thus changed sides in 
the alignment of European Powers. But because of the vital 
conflict of their interests, they were still in opposite camps. 

Even before this change in alliances was completed, con- 
flicts had broken out between the French and English in India 

530. The (1751) and in North America (1754). These conflicts 
v^^^^> w proved the prelude to a new war, on a more gigantic scale 
begun than any hitherto seen. In European history this is 
(1756) called the Seven Years' War (i 756-1 763). The war in 

Europe opened with a sudden invasion of Saxony by Frederick 
the Great. He had learned that Austria, Russia, and Saxony 
were secretly planning to attack him and divide his territories ; 
and he rightly judged that his best chance of safety lay in strik- 
ing first. In this new struggle Frederick displayed his highest 
powers of generalship. His army was the best drilled and the 
best equipped in Europe, and it was enthusiastically loyal. 
He was served by able generals, who were animated by his own 
spirit and trained under his own eye. The French armies, on 
the contrary, had lost their earher efiiciency. The controlling 
influence at the French court was now the king's favorite, Ma- 
dame de Pompadour, who caused ministers and generals to be 



PRUSSIA UNDER FREDERICK THE GREAT 



449 




Woman's Dress in Court of 
Louis XV 



appointed and dismissed at her caprice. Further to compHcate 
matters, Louis XV corresponded secretly with his ambassadors, 
often giving them instructions 
which were directly opposed to 
those received from the French 
foreign office. 

The forces of Maria Theresa, 
however, had learned from Fred- 
erick the art of making war. A 
series of administrative reforms, 
inspired by those of Prussia, also 
enabled Austria more effectually 
to utilize its resources. Before 
Frederick's alliance with Great 
Britain began to show its good 
effects, he likened himself to a 
stag attacked by "a pack of 
kings and princes." In the 

course of the war his fortunes sank to their lowest ebb, but 
disaster only inspired him to more desperate exertions. 

In 1756 Frederick won brilliant victories at Rossbach (ros'baK ; 
in Saxony) and Leuthen (loi'ten ; in Silesia). Of the last-named 
battle Napoleon Bonaparte once said, "It was a master- 531- The 
piece in the way of evolutions, maneuvers, and determina- Z^^ ^^ 
tion, and would alone have sufficed to make Frederick im- (1756-1763) 
mortal, and to rank him among the greatest generals." But 
in the period from 1758 to 1760, Frederick suffered serious re- 
verses. The Russians overran East Prussia and Brandenburg ; 
and with the aid of the Austrians they overwhelmingly defeated 
Frederick at Kunersdorf (1759). "The consequences of this 
battle," Frederick wrote, "will be worse than the battle itself. 
I have no more resources and, not to hide the truth, I consider 
that all is lost." His enemies, however, disagreed and failed to 
follow up their victory. In spite of the surprise and burning of 
Berlin (1760), Frederick succeeded in recovering the advantage. 

From 1 761 to 1763 Prussia was almost exhausted. Year by 



45o WIDENING AREA OF EUROPEAN RIVALRY 

year the war drained Frederick's resources, until it was only 
by the greatest efforts that his army could be kept in the field. 
To add to his difficulties, George III, who succeeded to the British 
throne in 1 760, broke off the Prussian alliance, and stopped the 
payment of the money subsidies which had greatly aided Fred- 
erick in carrying on the war. The greatest crisis in Frederick's 
affairs was at hand. At this juncture, however, a Tsar came to 
the Russian throne who was an enthusiastic admirer of Fred- 
erick, and he at once made peace. "Heaven still stands by us,'' 
wrote Frederick, "and everything will turn out well." The 
result justified his belief ; but the remainder of the war on the 
Continent was "like a race between spent horses." 

Even Maria Theresa at last recognized the hopelessness of 

continuing the struggle. To the demand that at least some 

Peace grant of territory should be made to her, and that Saxony 

of Huberts- should be compensated for its sufferings in the war, Fred- 
urg (17 3) QYiQ^ contemptuously replied: "Not a foot of land, and 
no compensation to Saxony — not a village, not a penny." 
These were the terms embodied in the peace of Hubertsburg 
(1763), on which the Seven Years' War in Europe was concluded. 
Austria's only gain lay in a secret agreement by which Frederick 
undertook to aid the election of Maria Theresa's son (Joseph II) 
as Emperor when his father, Francis I, should die. 

The peace of Hubertsburg ended Prussia's participation in 
these wars. During the remaining twenty- three years of Fred- 

533. Fred- erick's reign, he was occupied in repairing the damages 

erick the caused by war, and in building up his kingdom. By the 

Great in -^ . . 

time of energy and ability which he showed in this work, even 

peace more than by his brilliant warfare, he gained his surname 

"the Great." Prussia, indeed, was sadly in need of his fostering 
care. More than 180,000 men had fallen in Frederick's wars ; 
and the desolation which reigned throughout the Prussian king- 
dom can only be compared to that in which all Germany lay 
at the close of the Thirty Years' War. 

To increase Prussia's population, Frederick sought emigrants 
from Holland and from every German state. Those who an- 



PRUSSIA UNDER FREDERICK THE GREAT 451 

swered his call received money to help pay their traveling ex- 
penses, together with horses from the cavalry for their plowing 
and seed grain from the army stocks. In addition, Prussian 534- im- 
nobles were ordered to rebuild the thousands of ruined ^d'^agri- 
farmhouses on their estates, and to install peasants in culture 
them. In spite of bitter resistance, and even riots, he encour- 
aged the cultivation of the potato as a cheaper article of food.^ 
By building levees^ and draining swamps Frederick reclaimed 
vast areas of good farming land. On a single tract 43 villages 
were established with 1200 families. "I have conquered a 
proAdnce in the midst of peace, and .without need of soldiers," 
cried Frederick, joyously, on beholding these results. By the 
end of the century almost a third of the population of Prussia 
was composed of colonists or the sons of colonists who had 
been brought in by Frederick or by his immediate predecessors. 
Commerce and manufactures profited equally by Frederick's 
attention. Banks were founded, roads built, and canals con- 
structed. One of the latter connected a tributary of the 535- Com- 
Oder with the Vistula River (the next great stream to the ^amffac" 
east), and so extended, almost to the eastern limits of tures 
Prussia, the system of internal waterways begun by the Great 
Elector. To aid manufactures, Frederick imported workmen 
to teach new processes. He built up the manufacture of woolen 
cloth, founded the first porcelain factory in Berlin, began the 
cultivation of the silkworm and silk manufactures, and intro- 

1 It is a question whether the potato was first introduced from America to 
Europe, in the sixteenth century, by the Spaniards or the English. Its cultivation 
was soon undertaken in Italy and in southern France ; and in certain parts of 
Germany its adoption as an article of food checked the famines caused by the 
Thirty Years' War (§ 436). In Ireland the potato had become the staple food of 
the peasantry by the year 1688, but its cultivation in England made little progress 
until a hundred years later. Everywhere the introduction of this new food en- 
countered prejudice and misrepresentation, for it was ignorantly said to be a cause 
of leprosy and many sorts of fevers. A learned Frenchman named Parmentier 
(born 1737) played the chief part in dispelling these prejudices through a series of 
books and pamphlets in which he urged its cultivation and use. The French King 
Louis XVI popularized the movement by wearing the flowers of the plant in the 
buttonhole of his coat. It was probably Parmentier's writings that led Frederick 
the Great to champion the cause of the potato in Prussia. 



452 WIDENING AREA OF EUROPEAN RIVALRY 

duced or improved the printing of calicoes, manufacture of paper, 
refining of sugar, glass blowing, and iron founding. 

To the end of his days " the old Fritz," as his subjects lovingly- 
called him, was one of the hardest working persons in his king- 

536. Fred- dom. He arose at four o'clock in summer (five o'clock 
habits^ and ^^ winter), and spent the day in reading and answering 
government correspondence, in reviewing troops, and in the multitude 

of details connected with the government of his lands. Some 
part of each day was set aside for reading, and for literary or 
musical composition ; and the evenings were given up to con- 
certs (in which Frederick played skillfully on the flute), and to 
conversations with artists and literary men. In the midst of 
the cares of war and government, he never lost his earlier tastes 
for literature and music. 

The idea of government on which Frederick acted is expressed 
in his saying, "The people are not here for the sake of the rulers, 
but the rulers for the sake of the people." But Frederick was 
far from believing in government "of the people and by the 
people." In everything he not merely planned the whole, but 
oversaw the execution of the minutest details.^ His ministers 
were mere clerks. Even in the administration of justice, Freder- 
ick directly interfered, going so far at times as literally to kick 
judges whom he suspected of favoring the rich against the poor. 
The bad effects of his system were seen when his master hand 
was withdrawn by death. The Prussian administrative system 
then fell into speedy decay. In a despotically ruled state all 
depends upon the character of the head ; and a succession of 
able and benevolent rulers can never be assured.^ 

The reign of Frederick the Great saw the beginning of a great 

537. Rise development of modern German literature. The first 

of modem name of importance is that of the critic and dramatist 

German • / \ 

literature Lessing (i 729-1 781), whose Nathan the Wise enshrines "all 

1 See Robinson and Beard, Readings in Modern European History, I, 205-208, for 
some interesting comments by Frederick on petitions presented to him. 

2 Frederick's methods of government place him in the list of the benevolent des- 
pots, who will be discussed more fully in a later chapter (§§ 566-567). 



THE FOUNDING OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE 453 

that was noblest in the struggles and aspirations of his age, 
and connects the thought of the eighteenth with that of the nine- 
teenth century." Goethe (gu'te; 1749-183 2), author of Faust 
(foust) and a universal genius, holds the same place in German 
literature that Shakespeare does in Enghsh and Dante in Italian. 
Schiller (i 759-1805) is best known by his poetical drama, 
William Tell. Kant (1724-1804), author of the Critique of Pure 
Reason, made philosophy the absorbing subject of study at the 
German universities. But to all this Frederick himself was 
blind. To him the French language and French literature ap- 
peared vastly superior to German. "In order to con- Robinson, 
vince yourself of the bad taste that reigns in Germany," ^^^dmgs m 
he wrote in 1780, "you have only to frequent the theater. History, il, 
There you will see presented the abominable plays of 327 
Shakespeare translated into our language, and the whole audi- 
ence transported with delight by these absurd farces, fit only 
for the savages of Canada." He further speaks of one of 
Goethe's early works as " a detestable imitation of those wretched 
English plays." In spite of his ability and enlightenment, 
Frederick belonged to an age that was passing away. 

B. The Founding of the British Empire 

We must now consider more in detail the struggles of England 
and France in this period, amid which was founded the British 
Empire. 

Louis XIV of France outlived both his son (the dauphin) and 
the latter's eldest son (see genealogy, p.. 392). Consequently 
when this monarch died, in 171 5, he was succeeded by his 538. France 
great-grandson Louis XV, a sickly child of five years. For ^y (1713- 
some years the government was in the hands of the young 1774) 
king's uncle, who for reasons of his own kept peace with Eng- 
land.^ When Louis XV took the government into his own hands, 

1 To the period of the regency belongs the craze for speculation which is called 
the "Mississippi Bubble.'-' A Scotchman named John Law had won a reputation 
by foimding the first bank in France to issue bank notes and by straightening out 
the finances of the government. He thereupon formed a joint-stock company 



454 WIDENING AREA OF EUROPEAN RIVALRY 

he showed an utter disregard of everything save his own pleas- 
ures. For the misfortunes and misgovernment of his reign, this 
king felt no sense of responsibility. If retribution came upon 
his successors, that was no concern of his. "Things will out- 
last our time," said he ; and his favorite, Madame de Pompa- 
dour, added recklessly, "After us, the deluge !" The one ter- 
ritorial gain made by Louis XV was the acquisition, through 
marriage and treaty, of the duchy of Lorraine. This province 
joined Alsace more closely to France, and rounded out the 
conquests of two centuries (map, p. 388). Against this gain 
must be set the loss of the possessions of France in North 
America, and of French ascendancy in India. 

First Spain, and then Holland, had held and lost the su- 
premacy of the seas and colonial empire. With both of these 
539. Eng- countries England had engaged in war, largely because of 
French Conflicting trade and colonizing interests. France had 

rivalry now succeeded Spain and Holland as England's chief 

rival in these respects. An eminent English historian sums up 
the history of the eighteenth century by saying: "The whole 
period stands out as an age of gigantic rivalry between England 
and France, a kind of second Hundred Years' War. The ex- 
pansion of England in the New World and in Asia is the for- 
mula which sums up for England the history of the eighteenth 
Seeley, Ex- century." After mentioning the War of the Austrian 
^Endand 2 Succession, the Seven Years' War, and the War of Amer- 
28,31 ican Independence, he continues: "In these three wars, 

between 1740 and 1783, the struggle as between England and 
France is entirely for the New World [and India]. In the first 

(known as the "Mississippi Scheme"), which secured a monopoly of French com- 
merce in the vast Louisiana territory and Canada, as well as in Senegal (Africa) and 
the French East Indies. For a time his enterprises prospered and a mania for specu- 
lation sent the shares up to fabulous prices. "Everybody was mad about Missis- 
sippi stock," wrote a nobleman of that time. "Immense fortunes were made almost 
in a breath. People could not change their lands and their houses into paper fast 
enough." — (St. Simon, Memoirs, IV, 158.) The inevitable result of the overissue 
of stock and bank notes was that the "Mississippi Bubble" burst in 1720, and Law 
and his followers were overwhelmed in ruin. The English, at about the same time, 
were caught in a similar " South Sea Bubble." 



THE FOUNDING OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE 455 

of them, the issue is fairly joined ; in the second, France suffers 
her fatal fall; in the third, she takes her signal revenge." 

The English colonists in America had good reasons of their own 
for fighting the French.^ To antipathies of race, government, 
and religion there were added conflicting interests in the ^ French 
Ohio valley. The French were trying to connect Canada and English 
and lower Louisiana by a chain of forts, and thus impose "^ 
a barrier to the westward expansion of the English colonists. 
The issue was to decide whether North America should be gov- 
erned by a Latin or by a Teutonic race ; whether it should be 
self-governed or despotically ruled. 

The Seven Years' War, as we have seen, broke out in 
America before the beginning of hostilities in Europe. In 1754 
young George Washington fought the French at Great Seven 

Meadows; and in 1755 (still a year before Frederick's Years' War 
invasion of Saxony) came the defeat of Braddock's ex- *" menca 
pedition against Fort Duquesne (du-kan'). On the seas the 
British navy seized three hundred French merchant vessels 
and two frigates before the formal declaration of war, in 1756. 

In 1757 the administration in Great Britain passed, for the 
first time in some years, into the hands of a really able man. 
This was William Pitt the elder (called " the Great Commoner"), 
who was later made earl of Chat'ham. He found the war going 
badly, the natural result of favoritism, corruption, and incom- 
petence. "I am sure that I can save the country," Pitt boasted 
with proud confidence, "and that no one else can." King 
George II was obliged to accept Pitt as his chief minister, 
and until 1761 the direction of the government was in Pitt's 
hands. 

Pitt vigorously prosecuted the war in America and on the 
seas, without however neglecting the interests of Frederick the 

1 After the accession of William III, every war between these two countries was 
extended to North America. The war which closed with the peace of Ryswick 
(1697) was known as King William's War; the War of the Spanish Succession was 
known as Queen Anne's War; and the War of the Austrian Succession as King 
George's War. The Seven Years' War was called the French and Indian War by 
the English colonists in America. 



456 WIDENING AREA OF EUROPEAN RIVALRY 

Great, with whom England was allied. In 1758 the British 
took Louisburg (in Nova Scotia) and Fort Duquesne — thence- 
forth called Fort Pitt, or Pittsburgh. In 1759 Quebec, "the 
Gibraltar of America," fell as a result of an attack by General 
Wolfe. In spite of the entrance of Spain into the war as a 
French ally, Martinique (mar-te-nek'), Grena'da, St. Vincent, 
and other French islands in the West Indies passed into British 
hands. Great Britain's maritime power was established be- 
yond dispute. France's colonial empire in America came prac- 
tically to an end. The British colonies thenceforth could freely 
develop their heritage of political and religious liberty. 

In the East Indies, from 1500 to 1600, as the result of Vasco 
da Gama's famous voyage (§ 313), the Portuguese enjoyed a 
542. French trade monopoly; but after 1600 they lost ground to the 
nshin'india Dutch, English, and French. The English East India 
(1600-1751) Company, chartered in 1600, represented English interests 
in India ; and in the eighteenth century it possessed trading sta- 
tions at Madras', Bombay', and Calcutta. The French also 
had several stations in India, of which the chief, Pondicherry, 
was not far from Madras. Unlike America, India was a tropi- 
cal country, thickly populated, ruled by established govern- 
ments, and possessed of a civilization older and in some respects 
more advanced than that of Europe. Colonization was thus 
out of the question. The European settlements were at first 
mere trading stations (called "factories"), which did not at- 
tempt political control of the land. 

Dupleix (dii-pla'), the French governor of Pondicherry, was 
the first to see the possibilities of conquest in India and to 
devise the means of effecting it. The natives of India, when 
properly drilled and officered, made excellent soldiers (called 
Sepoys) ; and their lack of all sentiment of nationality rendered 
possible a conquest of India by its own natives, for the benefit 
of Europe. The British, in self-defense, organized troops sim- 
ilar to those established by Dupleix. In 1751, on the occasion 
of a dispute between two rival "nabobs" (rulers) of Arcot', the 
French and British took opposite sides. 



THE FOUNDING OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE 



457 



REFERENCE 
l>:>Mi"--.' I British acquisitions under 
t^^^^^^ CUve (1756-1767) 

Added under Hastings 

(1772-1785) 
Added under CornwalliB 

(178G-1793) 

I :;>>>! States under British 
u-^^iiJ protection in 1703 



Thus began the struggle for the mastery in India (1751-1761), 
which merged into the Seven Years' War of Europe. On the 
British side the hero of the war was Robert Clive, a clerk British 

of the East India Company, who laid down the pen to supremacy 
take up the sword. In his defense of Arcot he showed not '" ° ** 
only his own genius for war, but also the loyalty and stanchness 
of his Sepoy troops. 
Dupleix, whose worth 
and work were little 
appreciated in France, 
was recalled in dis- 
grace in 1754. In 
1756, the nabob of 
Bengal quarreled with 
the British and im- 
prisoned over a hun- 
dred of them in a 
small, close dungeon 
(the "Black Hole" of 
Calcutta), where five 
sixths died before 
morning. The horror 
of this deed and the 
difficulty of dealing 
with its author forced 
upon the British the 
conquest of Bengal, 

which was accomplished by the battle of Plassey (June 23, 1757). 
The French, meanwhile, steadily lost ground through mismanage- 
ment, incompetence, and lack of support at home. In 1760 came 
the final defeat of the French and the overthrow of their seeley 
influence in India. ^ In the language of an English historian, Expansion of 
this conquest of India was "the most striking and remark- "■s'^"' > '^ 
able incident in the modern part of the history of England." ^ 

1 After the close of the Seven Years' War, the English East India Company was 
Dractically without a rival. Its efforts were still devoted chiefly to trade, and only 




Geovstth of British Power in India 



458 WIDENING AREA OF EUROPEAN RIVALRY 

. Pitt, however, was not content with these great gains. He 

wished to use the opportunity, offered by Spain's aid to France, 

Peace ^^ secure parts of Spain's colonial possessions also. But 

of Paris George III had just come to the British throne (1760), and 

^^^ ^^ he wished for peace in order to free himself from the 

control of the Whig party. Pitt was therefore forced out of 

ofl&ce, and England and France signed the Peace of Paris (1763). 

Its chief provisions were as follows : — 

1. France ceded to England the whole of Canada, together with vari- 

ous islands in the West Indies. 

2. The French stations in India were restored, but were not to be 

fortified. 

3. Spain ceded Florida to England, which retained it until 1783. To 

compensate Spain for this loss, France ceded to her Louisiana, 
— a vast region west of the Mississippi River. 

4. Manila, in the Philippines, which had been conquered by England 

while the negotiations were in progress, together with Havana 
(in Cuba), were restored to Spain. 

Great Britain was the only state which profited by the bloody 
and costly Seven Years' War. "It is singular," says a French 
545. Restilts minister of that time, " that all the courts have missed their 
Seven §°^^ ™ ^^^^ ^^^- ^^^ ^^^§ °^ Prussia has gained much 

Years' War glory in dominating the courts of Europe, but he will 
leave to his heir a power lacking in solidity. He has ruined his 
people, exhausted his treasury, depopulated his states. The 
Empress Maria Theresa has increased her reputation for cour- 
age, power, and the efficiency of her troops, but she has not 
accomplished one of the objects she set before herself. Russia 
has shown to Europe the most invincible soldiery, but the worst 
led. The Swedes have played uselessly an obscure and subor- 

gradually did functions of government pass into its hands. Under Warren Hastings, 
the first governor-general of India, the full administration of Bengal was undertaken, 
and in various ways control was exercised over regions in which native princes con- 
tinued to rule. The anomaly of a commercial company governing so great an empire 
led the British Parliament, in 1784, to establish a governmental Board of Control 
in England, to supervise the poUtical side of the company's action ; but it was not 
until 1858 that the company's government came entirely to an end (§ 817). 



THE FOUNDING OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE 459 

dinate role. Our own part has been extravagant and shameful." 
Great Britain had profited because Pitt had concentrated his 
efforts on advancing England's real interests, instead of wasting 
his country's energies, as France did, on the European struggle. 
It has well been said that in this war "the kingdom of Great 
Britain became the British Empire." 

Sea power was both an object and the principal weapon of 
England in all her wars with France from 1688 to 181 5. Ac- 
cording to the leading writer on this subject, sea power g Growth 
rests upon " (i) production, with the necessity of exchang- of England's 
ing products ; (2) shipping, whereby the exchange is ^®* power 
carried on; and (3) colonies, which facilitate and enlarge the 
operation of shipping and tend to protect it by multiplying 
points of safety." England was marked out for sea j^j^han Sea 
power by its geographical situation, and from the begin- Power {1660- 
ning of the seventeenth century popular sentiment and ^'^ ^'' ^ 
governmental policy were directed to this end. Holland's mari- 
time power was weakened by the English Navigation Act (1651), 
crippled by the English wars which followed that act (§ 450), 
and ruined by the attacks of Louis XIV which forced her into 
submissive alliance with England. France's sea power had 
rested upon action by the government rather than by the people ; 
and when Louis XIV began his territorial conquests, he sacri- 
ficed to his land wars France's colonies, shipping, and every- 
thing save actual fighting vessels. By 1756 France had but 45 
battleships, to Great Britain's 130, and her whole navy was 
demoralized. In the course of the Seven Years' War her small 
naval squadrons wiere destroyed by the superior force of her an- 
tagonist, her mercantile shipping was swept from the seas, and 
her colonies were conquered by British troops. The damage 
once done could not be repaired. The outcome of this struggle 
has influenced the whole course of subsequent history. With 
a land narrow in extent and relatively poor in natural resources, 
England has grown rich largely through the possession of sea 
power. Her riches in turn have enabled her to grant large sub- 
sidies of money to her continental allies; and her wealth and 



460 WIDENING AREA OF EUROPEAN RIVALRY 

navy together have given her, at critical times, the foremost 
role in European affairs. 

The domestic history of Great Britain in the second half of 
the eighteenth century centers largely in a series of inventions 
547. Inter- ^^^ changes in manufacturing which we call the Industrial 
nal history Revolution. These are of supreme importance, but we 
ng an gha^ not attempt to describe them until a later chapter, 
when the movement can be dealt with as a whole. Other mat- 
ters of note in the later eighteenth century are (i) the political 
struggles which arose out of George Ill's attempt to impose 
his personal will on the nation, and (2) the loss through revolt 
of the thirteen American colonies. 

In order to break down the rule of the great Whig families, 
George III sought, through the use of bribes and crown patron- 
age, to build up in Parliament a party controlled by himself and 
called "the king's friends." George III was a good man and 
was attentive to business, but he had very little understanding. 
"He inflicted more permanent and enduring injuries upon his 
country," says the English historian Lecky, "than any other 
modern English king. He spent a long life in obstinately resist- 
ing measures which are now almost universally admitted to have 
been good, and in supporting measures which are as universally 
admitted to have been bad." His support enabled the Tories 
to regain control of the government, after nearly fifty years' 
exclusion from power (since 17 14). For twelve years (1770- 
1782) the amiable Lord North was nominally prime minister, 
thoughhe disapproved of many of the measures which his royal 
master insisted on carrying out. During his administration 
occurred the war with the American colonies, a contest with 
which Lord North's name is always associated, but of which 
he did not wholly approve. 

The details of the revolt of the American colonies lie outside 

the scope of this volume. Its causes are to be found rather in 

the character of the colonists and in the nature of their 

of coloni^° situation, than in any special oppressive acts of the Brit- 

in America ish government. Accustomed as Englishmen were to 



THE FOUNDING OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE 46 1 

liberty and self-government, it was inevitable that they should 
resent any attempt at control which they thought injurious to 
their interests. This was especially true when the government 
which exercised the control was located three thousand miles 
across the Atlantic. So long as there was danger to the colo- 
nists from the near neighborhood of the French in Canada, this 
tendency remained undeveloped. But when, after the over- 
throw of the French power, the British government sought to 
exercise rights of taxation and the like (which in theory the col- 
onists hitherto had recognized) the revolt came. The aid which 
France gave to the colonies, after 1778, perhaps had motives 
among the upper classes other than those of selfish policy. By 
French statesmen generally, however, the war was regarded 
mainly as an opportunity for revenge upon England. Spain 
entered into the war (1779) in a vain attempt to recover Gibral- 
tar. Holland was forced into it (1780) by questions of trade. 
Russia, Sweden, Denmark, Prussia, and Austria formed (in 
1780) the "Armed Neutrality of the- North," which asserted the 
doctrine, against Great Britain's practice, that "free ships 
make free goods," and sought in general to secure protection for 
neutral commerce. The disaster to the British arms at York- 
town (1781), and the menacing aspect of European affairs, finally 
forced George III to grant the independence of the colonies. A 
general peace was made at Paris in 1 782-1 783. Spain recovered 
Florida, and France received a few islands from Great Britain. 
But to France the war brought financial bankruptcy, while the 
example of the American revolt aided the growth of revolutionary 
ideas among her own citizens. 

Great Britain came out of the American war with diminished 
prestige and curtailed empire. It was generally believed that 
her decay had begun. That this proved not to be the case was 
due mainly to two causes : (i) To the ever increasing flood of 
wealth and strength which she drew from the Industrial Revolu- 
tion. (2) To the beginning of a new colonial dominion, in Aus- 
tralia and New Zealand, which compensated for the loss of the 
thirteen colonies. 



462 WIDENING AREA OF EUROPEAN RIVALRY 

Australia was the last of the continents to be discovered and 
colonized. Although visited by Dutch and English vessels in 
549. Colo- the seventeenth century, it was not until the famous Eng- 
AustraUa* ^^^^ navigator Captain Cook explored its shores (in 1769, 
(1788) 1772, and 1776) that it was opened to European enterprise. 

The first British settlement was founded at Botany Bay, in 
New South Wales (1788), as a convict settlement. From this 
small beginning the British occupation grew until the whole con- 
tinent, together with the neighboring islands of New Zealand, was 
brought into the British Empire. At the time, the acquisition 
of these distant and unpromising lands seemed a matter of very 
slight consequence. By their later growth they have become 
one of the most prosperous and important parts of the British 
colonies, and a distinct source of strength to that British Empire 
"on which the sun never sets." 



C. The Partitions of Poland 

From the treaties of Hubertsburg and Paris, in 1763, to the 
outbreak of the wars of the French Revolution, there was no 
general European conflict. But at no time has self-interest so 
unscrupulously been made the rule of action of European states, 
and at no time have the weaker states been more exposed to 
attacks from their more powerful neighbors. The destruction 
of Poland, through successive partitions, was the greatest of 
such national crimes. 

Next to Russia, Poland was the most extensive country of 

Europe. Its monarchy was elective, and at each successive 

550. An- election the power of the crown was diminished, until the 

^^^gl king was practically powerless. In the eighteenth century 

of Poland Poland ''had no ambassadors at foreign courts, the land 

had no fortresses, no navy, no roads, no arsenals, no treasury, no 

fixed revenue." The ministers of the crown and the governors 

of the provinces held office for life, and were irremovable. Peace 

and war, the making of laws, and the levying of taxes, were in 

the hands of the Diet, v/hich was composed exclusively of rep- 



THE PARTITIONS OF POLAND 463 

resentatives of the nobles. Absolute unanimity, moreover, was 
necessary in the proceedings of this body, owing to the existence 
of a peculiar institution called the liberum veto. If any deputy 
believed that a measure already approved by the rest of the 
Diet was injurious to his constituency, he had the right to arise 
and exclaim, "I disapprove"; and the measure in question 
was at once dropped. In addition to political anarchy, there 
was also racial and religious disunion. The population con- 
sisted of Poles, Lithuanians, Russians, Germans, and Jews. 
Alongside of the established Roman Catholic Church were the 
persecuted sects of Greek Catholics and Protestants. In some 
of the towns the Jews made up more than half of the population, 
and what little trade existed was mainly in their hands. Prac- 
tically the Third Estate did not exist in Poland. The popu- 
lation consisted of something over one million nobles and thir- 
teen million serfs. The nobles owed their power to their sole 
right to bear arms and to own land. The estates of some nobles 
were very small. It was said jokingly that often when a noble's 
dog lay down in the middle of the family estate, his tail extended 
into the domain of his master's neighbor. The peasants were 
still attached to the soil as in medieval times (§188), and the 
whole product of their labor belonged to their masters. The 
nobles still held their manorial courts and exercised the power 
of life and death over their serfs. The Polish peasants, in short, 
were "the poorest, most oppressed, and most miserable in the 
world." 

Naturally the weakness, disorder, and disunion of this great 
land excited the greed of its unscrupulous neighbors. Catherine 
II of Russia determined to seize a portion of Poland, and ^^^ j^g 
Frederick the Great persuaded Austria to join him in extinction 
forcing Catherine to share with them the booty. Thus ^'^ 772-1795) 
began the "vast national crime" by which, in three successive 
partitions, Poland was annexed by the three powers, (i) In 
the first partition, in 1772, Prussia took the district of West 
Prussia, which she coveted, thus filling in the gap separat- 
ing East Prussia fronj Bra,ndenburg. Russia and Austria 



464 



WIDENING AREA OF EUROPEAN RIVALRY 



each took districts (shown on the map) which bordered on their 
territories. (2) Sweeping reforms were now carried out by the 
Poles, and a new constitution adopted (1791) which made the 
menarchy hereditary and aboHshed the liberum veto. But 
discontented nobles plotted with Russia and Prussia for the 
overthrow of the new government, and the price of their aid was 




To Ruania 
To PrU99Ui 

[f;;;;::^ |?;.°;S;| To Austria. 



Partitions of Poland 



a second and more extensive partition (1793). Austria was at 
the time engaged in war with revolutionary France, and her 
claims to a share in the spoil were disregarded. (3) Two years 
later (1795) an attempted revolution by the Polish patriot 
Kosciusko was made the excuse for a third and final partition, 
in which all three powers shared. 

By these successive partitions the great kingdom of Poland 
was entirely wiped oflf the map. Its extinction was made 



TOPICS AND REFERENCES 465 

possible by the selfish policy of the nobles, and by an easily 
understood lack of any feeling of national patriotism on the 
part of the crushed and downtrodden peasantry. But since the 
loss of their independence, a new sentiment of nationality has 
arisen among the Poles, manifesting itself in revolts and in still 
unquenched hatred for their foreign masters. 

IMPORTANT DATES 

1740. Accession of Frederick the Great. 

1748. Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle ends war of the Austrian Succession. 

1756. The Seven Years' War in Exirope begun. 

1757. Clive wins the battle of Plassey. 
1759- Quebec taken by General "Wolfe. 
1760. Accession of George III. 

1763. Peace of Hubertsburg; Peace of Paris. 

1772. First Partition of Poland. 

1775-1783. The American Revolution. 

1786. Death of Frederick the Great. 

1788. British colonization of Australia begun. 

1793. Second Partition of Poland. 

I795« Third Partition of Poland. 

TOPICS AND REFERENCES 

Suggestive Topics. — (i) Were the European wars of the middle of the 
eighteenth century more or less important than the religious wars of the six- 
teenth and seventeenth centuries ? Why ? (2) Was the treatment of young 
Frederick the Great by his father wise or unwise ? Why ? (3) Was Fred- 
erick's attack on Austria worse than that of Peter the Great on Sweden? 
(4) What qualities of greatness did Maria Theresa show? (5) Was Fred- 
erick justified in his attack on Saxony in 1756? (6) What qualities of 
greatness does Frederick show as a general ? In the administration of his 
kingdom? (7) Which is most important in the history of the world, the 
battles of Rossbach and Leuthen, the battle of Plassey, or the capture of 
Quebec? Why? (8) Why was France so unsuccessful in these wars? 
(9) To whom belongs the chief credit for England's success? (10) Of 
what value was the acquisition of supremacy in India to Great Britain ? 
(11) Which was more important to her, the loss of the American colonies or 
the acquisition of Australia? (12) With whom should the chief blame for 
the loss of Poland's independence be placed? (13) What restrains the 
Great Powers of Europe to-day from partitioning weaker countries ? 



466 WIDENING AREA OF EUROPEAN RIVALRY 

Search Topics. — (i) Youth of Frederick the Great. Henderson, 
Short History of Germany, II, 29-38 ; Lavisse, Youth of Frederick the Great; 
Robinson and Beard, Readings, I, 65-66. — (2) Maria Theresa. Hender- 
son, Short History, II, 129-130; Bright, Maria Theresa, chs. i, ix. — ■ 
(3) Frederick the Great as Enlightened Despot. Henderson, Short 
History, II, 194-204; Robinson and Beard, Readings, I, 205-208. — (4) The 
Mississippi Bubble. Adams, Growth of the French Nation, 237-240. — 
(5) The Taking of Quebec. Beard, Introduction to the English Historians, 
452-465; Tavkman, Montcalm and Wolfe; Kendall, Source 500^,345-349. 

— (6) Rise of British Dominion in India. Beard, Introduction, 443- 
451; Seeley, Expansion of England, Series II, lect. 3; Green, Short 
History, 745-746, 753-754; Lyall, Rise of British Dominion in India. — (7) 
Character and Services of William Pitt the Elder. Green, Short 
History, 749-753; Macaulay Essays ("William Pitt, Earl of Chatham")- 

— (8) Personal Government of George III. Beard, Introduction, 492- 
504; 'Lecky, England in the Eighteenth Century , III, 167-183. — (9) English 
Colonial Policy. Seeley, Expansion of England, lect. 4; Egerton, Origin 
and Growth of the English Colonies, chs. iii, iv. — (10) France in the 
American War of Independence. Guizot, Concise History of France, 
540-551; Robinson, Readings, II, 370-373. — (11) The Partitions of 
Poland. Henderson, Short History, II, 205-208; Hassall, Balance of 
Power, 303-318; Encyclopedia Britannica (nth ed.), XXI, 916-920. 

General Reading. — ■ Longman's Frederick the Great and the Seven Years' 
War, Johnson's Age of the Enlightened Despot, and Hassall's Balance of 
Power are the best short books. Lavisse, The Youth of Frederick the Great, 
is as interesting as a historical novel. Tuttle's History of Prussia (4 vols.) 
and Carlyle's Frederick the Great (many editions) are standard works. 
Seeley's brilliant Expansion of England shows England's interest in the 
wars of the eighteenth century. 



CHAPTER XXIV 
THE EVE OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

A. The Old Regime in Europe 

The eighteenth century closed with an upheaval of the French 
people which overturned the existing system of Europe. 
It again raised France from a position of weakness to 552. Char- 
one of power, and it spread abroad ideas which have impending 
shaped all subsequent history. The English Revolution revolution 
of 1688, and the American Revolution of 1775, both brought to 
logical completion institutions of long and steady growth. The 
French Revolution, on the other hand, broke sharply with the 
past, and changed the direction of national development. It 
is the purpose of the present chapter to examine the facts in 
the general situation which made this revolution possible, and 
to sketch the new ideas which guided its progress. 

Throughout Europe, even before the eighteenth century, 
the medieval system in church and state had broken down. 
Its overthrow was the result of movements which have Mean- 

been described in earlier chapters, — the growth of com- ing of Old 
merce and of the towns, the rise of national states, the ®sinie 
Renaissance, and the Reformation. Nevertheless, in every 
country of Europe there still survived many relics of the old sys- 
tem, now become serious abuses. It is to this condition of half- 
overthrown medievalism that the name of Old Regime is given. 

Though serfdom was extinct in England, and nearly so in 
France, it still prevailed in central, southern, and eastern Eu- 
rope. In those lands the peasant was little better off g^_ 
than the negro slave in America. He was still bound vivais of 
to the soil and compelled to work for his lord. He used ^^'^'^^^ 
the same crude tools as his ancestors, and lived in the same sort 

467 



468 THE EVE OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

of wretched hovel as in the Middle Ages. Conditions were 
probably blackest in Russia, Poland, Austria, and Hungary, 
where even to-day the lot of the peasant is exceedingly hard. 

In the towns the guilds, which had once done good service to 
the cause of liberty, had become burdensome and oppressive. 
555- Op- In many places the master workmen alone were members 
guifd'regu- *^^ ^^^ guilds, and their chief object was to maintain a 
lations monopoly in the products of their manufacture. To this 

end the number of masters who might open shops, the number 
of apprentices whom each might train, the length of apprentice- 
ship and the methods of manufacture, were minutely regulated ; 
and these regulations were enforced by the authority of the state. 
A workman had to confine himself to the limits laid down for 
his craft. A barber was not permitted to curl hair, nor a baker 
to roast meat in his oven for a customer ; for such acts infringed 
the monopolies of other guilds. If a journeyman attempted 
to set up a shop for himself, without being admitted to the mas- 
ter's guild of that trade, he was liable to fine, imprisonment, and 
confiscation of his tools and materials. The jealous and ex- 
clusive policy of the guilds developed bitter antagonism between 
the artisans and the well-to-do class of master workmen and 
traders, whom we call bourgeois (boor-zhwa')- The strictness 
of guild regulations also greatly hampered progress. In Paris, 
for example, a hat-maker's stock was destroyed because he had 
improved the quality of his hats (and so increased his business) 
by mixing silk in their manufacture where the guild regulations 
called for the use of pure wool. Nor was this an isolated case. 
"Each week for a number of years," said an inspector of manu- 
factures, "I have seen burned at Rouen eighty to one hundred 
pieces of goods, because some regulation concerning the weaving 
or dyeing had not been observed at every point." 

Similar medieval survivals may be traced in the special priv- 

5s6 Posi- ileges enjoyed by the two upper classes of society. The 

tion of the nobles of the eighteenth century were no longer the lawless 

nobles robber knights of the Middle Ages. They were great 

landed proprietors, without any of the military duties which 



THE OLD REGIME IN EUROPE 469 

were the excuse for their noble rank in the feudal days. 
They retained, however, many class privileges and exemptions, 
which will be discussed later in connection with France.^ 

The other great privileged order was the clergy. In Catholic 
countries churchmen still retained much of the power which 
they had exercised throughout the Middle Ages. The Power 

upper clergy, drawn largely from the nobles, enjoyed of the 
enormous incomes from the church estates and from the *^ ®^^^ 
tithes which the laity were still forced to pay. Many judicial 
•causes were tried in church courts ; and the clergy alone regis- 
tered births and deaths, and solemnized marriages. This made 
it impossible for Protestants in Catholic countries to marry 
legally and have legitimate children, or to inherit or to will 
property. Schools, hospitals, and charitable institutions were 
all in the control of the church. Persecution for nonconformity 
continued, though executions had become less frequent.^ Strong 
efiforts were made to suppress freedom of thought by means of 
a censorship of the press. The suppression of the books con- 
demned by the church was usually enforced by the state, and 
such copies as could be seized were burned, and their authors 
and publishers (so far as discoverable) were imprisoned. The 
censorship, however, was not very effective. The spirit of 
reform was in the air, and there was an eager demand for books 
attacking the evils of church and state. Printers and authors 
were able to meet this demand by publishing their books and 
pamphlets secretly, or by printing them in England, Holland, 
and Geneva, where the press was more free. 

In England, where personal and political liberty was most 
advanced, and religious toleration was granted to Protestant 
dissenters, great intolerance was long shown to Roman Catholics. 

1 In Germany several hundred of the feudal nobles, because of their impregnable 
castles and other advantages, had been able to maintain their independence of the 
great princely states. They were under the authority of the Emperor alone, and 
are reckoned among the sovereign princes of Europe, though some of them ruled 
only a few square miles of territory. 

2 In Spain, however, one thousand heretics are said to have been burned between 
1700 and 1746. — Encyclopedia Britannica (nth ed.), XX, 714. 



470 THE EVE OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

B. The Spirit of Reform 

In the sixteenth century men appHed the test of reasonable- 
ness, instead of tradition or authority, to matters of scholarship 
and reHgion. In the eighteenth century this test was extended 
to everyday life and to government, and whatever was found 
unreasonable was relentlessly attacked. 

In part this wider application of reason to human affairs was 
due to the advance of science, which had gone on steadily since 

558. The ^^ Renaissance. Newton in the seventeenth century had • 
advance of shown that the whole universe is bound together by the 
science unseen force of gravitation. The invention of the tele- 
scope had proved that the planets are worlds like our own. The 
microscope had revealed a hitherto unsuspected realm of minute 
organic life all about us. The old Greek philosophers had 
taught that everything is reducible to four "elements" — earth, 
air, fire, and water; but Lavoisier (la-vwa-zya'), the founder 
of modem chemistry (died 1794), disproved this by decompos- 
ing air and water into the elements we know as gases, and show- 
ing that fire is really oxidation, a process in which the oxygen 
of the atmosphere rapidly combines with the substance burned. 

Such discoveries as these inevitably broadened men's con- 
ceptions of the universe and of God. They became less ready 
to accept the teachings of authority and tradition, since experi- 
ence showed in so many instances that the old ideas were mis- 
taken. Scholars now tended to rely in all matters on the knowl- 
edge gained through the application of reason to the facts of 
everyday life, as ascertained by observation and experiment. 
The ends sought by eighteenth-century philosophy were chiefly 
these: (i) greater knowledge of the material universe, and (2) 
various practical reforms, such as religious toleration, political 
liberty, economic and social equality, and natural education. 

The revolt against tradition and authority originated in Eng- 

559. Eng- land, where there was more freedom of thought, of speech, 

Ush influ- ^^ J q£ g^(,|-jQ^ ^.j^j^jj elsewhere. English scientists and phi- 
ence on . 

France losophers, of whom John Locke (163 2-1 704) was chief, 



THE SPIRIT OF REFORM 



471 



then became the teachers of a group of brilhant Frenchmen, 
who spread the new teachings throughout Europe. Voltaire, 
Montesquieu, and Rousseau were foremost in this work. 

Voltaire (vol-tar') was unsurpassed in his mocking wit and 
biting satire, his keen thought and vigorous style. He sprang 
from the middle class, and early felt the tyranny of the ^^ yQj_ 
crown by being imprisoned for libel on a lettre de cachet, take (1694- 
He was taught the insolence of the nobility by a beating ^'^'^^^ 
at the hands of hired ruffians employed by an arrogant and dis- 
solute nobleman of Paris. He "learned to think" during three 
years of exile in Eng- 
land. After his return 
to France, he made 
untiring assaults upon 
superstition, fanati- 
cism, intolerance, and 
injustice. He was re- 
lentless in his attacks 
upon the church, which 
he believed to be an 
^obstacle to human 
progress because it sup- 
pressed freedom of 
thought. In religion 
he was . a deist, — that 
is, he believed in God 
and in the immortality 
of the soul, but he re- 
fused to believe that 
God had revealed Him- 
self to the Jewish 
people alone. Voltaire 

put Christianity on the same plane with Judaism, Mohamme- 
danism, and Buddhism. He relied upon man's reason for the 
discovery of God's laws. He attacked religious intolerance es- 
pecially, and perhaps did more than any other man to free the 




^^. 



Voltaire 



472 



THE EVE OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 



world of that curse. He exercised a tremendous influence on 
the thought of his time. A French historian says that "he 
filled the eighteenth century." 

Voltaire, however, did not attack the political forms of the 
Old Regime. His famous contemporary, Montesquieu (mon- 
-. tes-ku'), extended the application of reason and experience 

tesquieu to this field also. In an epoch-making work, entitled 
(1689-1755) j^g Spirit of Laws, Montesquieu drew the attention of 
his countrymen to the abuses in their government. He con- 
trasted these with English political liberty and parliamentary 
government. But, — faithful to his model, the English constitu- 
tion, — Montesquieu abhorred the idea of democracy as much 
as that opposite extreme, absolute government. 

Rousseau (roo-so') was the apostle of Liberty, Equality, and 

Fraternity, — the new gospel whose golden dream inspired men 

562. Rous- to hope for the im- 



seau (1712 
1778) 




mediate attainment 

of the social millen- 
nium. Rousseau looked 
upon civilization, — espe- 
cially the stilted, artificial 
civilization of the eight- 
eenth century, — as the 
cause of all the evils which 
mankind suffered. He 
sought, therefore, to turn 
men "back to nature." 
He believed that in the 
"state of nature," before 
governments arose, all men 
were good and all . men 
were equal. This belief 
led him to inquire into 
the origin and nature of 

governments. In his most celebrated work. The Social Con- 
tract, he begins as follows: "Man is born free, and yet is now 



Rousseau 



THE SPIRIT OF REFORM 473 

everywhere in chains." The state, he taught, is the outcome 
of a compact, freely entered into, by which each man surren- 
dered his individual liberty to the general will. The whole 
people, therefore, constitute the sovereign power. Though 
they may allow a single person, such as a king, to manage the 
government for them, the people always retain the right to de- 
pose their rulers and to change the constitution of their gov- 
ernment. The teachings of Rousseau became immensely popu- 
lar with all classes, for he voiced eloquently and passionately 
their discontent. The enthusiasts of the French Revolution 
drew their inspiration most of all from Rousseau. His Social 
Contract has been called "the gospel of modern democracy." 

Similar ideas of freedom were stirring in the field of economics 
also. Against the minute regulation of industry and commerce, 
exercised by the guilds and by the government, was raised g -^^^ 
the doctrine of freedom of manufacture and freedom of of political 
transportation. This doctrine was embodied in the ®^°^°™y 
words, Laissez faire, laissez passer (le-sa far', le-sa pa-sa'). The 
new ideas originated with a group of French writers, who may 
be said to have founded political economy as a science. Upon 
the basis which they laid, Adam Smith (a Scotchman) developed 
his great work. The Wealth of Nations (published 1776), which 
became the chief treatise of the new science. Its author main- 
tained that it was unwise for governments to attempt to interfere 
with natural economic laws. He advocated especially a policy 
of "free trade," — that is, the abolition of practically all im- 
port and export tariff duties — a policy which Great Britain 
adopted two generations later, and still continues to follow. 

In every department of thought — religion, morals, govern- 
ment, science — there was new activity. The old systems were 
vigorously assailed from countless points of view. To -g Diderot 
gather up and popularize the results of the new studies — and the 
to advance knowledge, and to arouse enthusiasm for re- ^'^'^y'^'opedia 
form — a great French Encyclopedia was projected. This work 
was written by a group of scholars, of whom the chief was Dide- 
rot (ded-ro')- It was completed in thirty-seven volumes (in 



474 THE EVE OF TH£ FRENCH REVOLUTION 

1771), after much governmental interference. "The Ency- 
clopedia was like a general rising, a battle array, of all the men 
of the new era, against all the powers of the past. It was the 
great effort of the eighteenth century." 

Men of the Third Estate led in these intellectual movements, 
but the new ideas were taken up by nobles, priests, and kings 

565. The as well. Voltaire resided for several years as a guest at 
bcMtme^he ^^^ court of Frederick the Great in Prussia ; and Catherine 
fashion II of Russia subscribed for the Encyclopedia and tried to 

bring its leading writers to her court. In France disgust with 
the court and ministers rendered a great part of the nobles 
"almost democrats." The spread of the liberal movement there 
was helped by the fact that many French nobles had served in 
the American War of Independence, and came back imbued 
with the spirit of liberty and admiration for republican ideas. 

C. Refoi?ms of the "Enlightened Despots" 

It was natural that the first attempts at the practical appli- 
cation of the new reform ideas should come from the sovereigns 

566. The who were influenced by the movement. They recognized 
ene'd des- ^^^ governments existed for the good of their subjects, 
pots " though they rejected the ideas of the sovereignty of the 

people, of nationality as a necessary basis for the state, and of 
inviolable safeguards to individual liberty. The removal of the 
medieval survivals in industry, in religion, and in the state 
would promote prosperity among their peoples without (as they 
thought) limiting their own absolute power. Consequently, 
Frederick the Great of Prussia, Catherine II of Russia, and other 
enlightened rulers undertook many sweeping reforms in their 
territories. It is to such rulers of the eighteenth century that 
the name "enlightened despots" is applied. It is curious that 
some of the most striking attempts in this line came from the 
sovereigns who were engaged in the crime of partitioning Poland. 
This fact shows the admixture in their policies of the ideas of the 
Old Regime along with those of the dawning new era. 



REFORMS OF THE "ENLIGHTENED DESPOTS" 475 

The reform attempts of the Emperor Joseph II illustrate both 
the good and the evil sides of enlightened despotism. His 
scheme of domestic policy for the motley Hapsburg states 567. Re- 
(maps, pp. 482 and 602) was ''no less than to consolidate forms of 
all his dominions into one homogeneous whole ; to abolish Joseph II 
all privileges and exclusive rights ; to obliterate the (1765-1790: 
boundaries of nations, and substitute for them a mere admin- 
istrative division of his whole empire ; to merge all nationalities 
and establish a uniform code of justice ; to raise the mass of Mg^ivale 
the community to legal equality with their former masters ; Historical 
to constitute a uniform level of democratic simplicity under '" *^^' " 
his own absolute sway." These sweeping changes he tried to 
carry out within the short space of five years. He began by 
abolishing serfdom in Bohemia, Moravia, Galicia, and Hungary. 
He took away the privileges of the local Diets and imperial 
towns, and consolidated his dominions into a single state of 
thirteen districts, each division and subdivision of which was 
under his own officials. He sought to make German the offi- 
cial language for all districts. In 1781 he issued an edict of 
religious toleration, and undertook a radical reform of the 
Roman Catholic Church in his territories. He forbade money 
being sent to Rome ; and he abolished over six hundred monas- 
teries, using their revenues to establish schools and charitable 
institutions. He conferred a lasting benefit on Austria by his 
new code of law, in which torture was abolished and the death 
penalty reserved for cases of rebellion alone. He was active in 
stimulating manufactures and commerce; and he equalized 
taxation by depriving the nobles and clergy of their exemptions. 

It is evident that each of these reforms, however desirable 
it was, affected the interests or prejudices of some powerful class 
or nation, and would arouse bitter opposition. The weakness 
of the whole scheme lay in the fact that no account was taken 
of such obstacles, and that everything was attempted at once. 
Most of the Emperor's reforms, therefore, were overturned in 
his own lifetime, and he died (in 1790) sadly disappointed at 
his failure. 

1 



476 THE EVE OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

D. France on the Eve of the Revolution 

To understand why France^ rather than any other European 

country took the lead in the revolution which overthrew the 

568. Why Old Regime, we must bear in mind that the existence of 

the revo- evils and oppression does not always produce revolt. To 
lution be- i i • rr i i tt 1 

ganin produce this eiiect there must be enough liberty and 

France enlightenment among the people to make them discon- 

tented with their condition, and to furnish them with leaders. 
As has been pointed out, the mass of the people in eastern and 
southern Europe were far more wretched than in France. Says 
a recent historian: "It was because the French peasant was 
more independent, more wealthy, and better educated than the 
German serf that he resented the political and social privileges 

Ste h ns °^ ^^^ landlord, and the payment of rent, more than the 

Revolutionary serf objected to his bondage. It was because France pos- 
urope, sessed an enlightened middle class that the peasants and 

workmen found leaders. It was because Frenchmen had been 
in the possession of a great measure of personal freedom that 
they were ready to strike a blow for political liberty, and 
eventually promulgated the idea of social equality." 

There were in France, however, grievances of a real and 

serious character. Society and government were founded upon 

g Class ^ system of caste, in which the clergy, nobles, and Third 

inequaU- Estate were widely separated in privileges and burdens. 

ties rpj^g gj.g^ ^^Q Estates constituted the "privileged orders." 

They numbered less than two per cent in a population of about 
twenty-five millions. The higher Mi obles, who resided at the 
king's court, differed in manner of life and interests from the 
lesser ones, who resided on their estates. In like manner the 
nobly born higher clergy had little in common with the hard- 
working and underpaid parish priests {cures), who sprang from 
the people. Class inequalities, indeed, were increasing. By 
1789 four generations of noble descent were necessary to secure 
a commission in the army, and to enter the charmed circle of 
the court it was necessary to prove nobility on the father's side 



FRANCE ON THE EVE OF THE REVOLUTION 477 

back to the year 1400. The offices of the church — bishoprics, 
abbacies, priories — were regarded as a provision for the younger 
sons of noble families. In taxation the privileged orders had 
many exemptions, in which the wealthier citizens were able to 
share by purchasing offices from the crown. While the wealthy 
townsmen were thus raised above the mass of the Third Estate, 
there remained a great social gulf between them and the old 
nobility. Pride of class led the nobles to refrain from all labor ; 
and extravagance, gambling, and the decline of their estates 
made them greedy seekers after pensions and corrupt gains. 

Under Louis XV the government was more oppressive and less 
efficient than formerly. Abroad, French prestige was seriously 
impaired ; at home, vexations increased. Letters passing 570. Mis- 
through the post were systematically opened, and each u°de™™^° 
morning Louis XV enjoyed the choice bits of scandal and Louis XV 
family secrets gained in this way. A censorship of the press 
was' enforced, so far as the government was able. Torture, 
mutilations, and an absence of safeguards to personal liberty 
(such as England possessed in its trial by jury and the writ of 
habeas corpus) characterized the administration of justice. One 
hundred and fifty thousand lettres de cachet are calculated to have 
been issued in this reign, many of which were sold for money 
to private individuals, who used them to be revenged upon 
personal enemies. 

Perhaps the greatest cause of misgovernment was the con- 
fusion and diversity in all departments of government, due to 
the fact that France was a mere patchwork of territories, S7i- Diver- 
added piece by piece hoiri the time of Hugh Capet to ^^gtra-' 
Louis XVI. Instead of a single code of law for the whole tion 
country, there were in force nearly three hundred different sets 
of local ''customs." Internal commerce was harassed by tolls 
and tariff duties on goods passing from province to province. 
A vessel descending the Saone and Rhone rivers had to stop 
and pay charges thirty times, the whole amounting to from 
twenty-five to thirty per cent of the value of the cargo. 

Still worse were the inequalities in the levying of taxes. There 



478 THE EVE OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

was not only monstrous inequality between the privileged and 
unprivileged classes, but also between the various districts of 
France. The amount of the direct taxes was arbitrarily as- 
sessed upon the different communities by the central govern- 
ment. Within each community the tax collector had the same 
arbitrary power in apportioning the burden among his neighbors. 
What one person did not or could not pay had to be made up 
by the rest. If a community or an individual showed evidence 
of prosperity, the usual result was an increase in the taxes. The 
burden of the indirect taxes likewise was very unequally dis- 
tributed. Most of these taxes were "farmed out" to specu- 
lators (§ 447), which increased the burden upon the people. 

The condition of the peasant, though better than in Germany, 
Poland, and Russia, was still grievous. Perhaps one fourth of 
572 Condi- ^^^ ^°^^ *^^ France was in the hands of peasant owners, but 
tion of the it was still burdened with many vexatious relics of feudal 
peasan s d^es. If a peasant sold his land, part of the price usually 
had to be paid to the neighboring lord. In some places the peas- 
ant had to pay a toll to cross the bridge or ferry on his way to 
work or to drive his flock past the lord's mansion. The obli- 
gation to use the lord's mill and oven for grinding grain and 
baking bread (§ 188) was hateful because of the delays, fraud, 
and poor service to which it gave rise. Wild game of all sorts 
was protected for the lord's hunting, under penalty of fine, 
imprisonment, and the galleys. For broken fences and hedges, 
and crops trampled in the chase, the peasant had no redress. 
Enormous dovecots were maintained by the nobles; and the 
damage, done to crops by the pigeons kept therein found a 
prominent place in the complaints of most country districts. 

These annoyances, however, were slight compared to the 

burdens imposed by the state. The exemptions enjoyed by the 

Forced wealthier classes threw almost the whole weight of taxa- 

labor and tion on the peasantry, the class least able to bear it. In- 

the salt tax nm^gj-able taxes and forced labor on the roads crushed 

the peasant. The sale of salt was a government monopoly, 

and every household was obliged to buy each year a fixed 



FRANCE ON THE EVE OF THE REVOLUTION 479 

quantity of that article. The surplus from the household supply 
could not be used for curing meats ; a separate supply had to be 
purchased for that purpose. The price varied enormously, in 
some provinces the government charging thirty times what it 
did in other near-by districts. Over seventeen hundred persons 
were usually in prison, and three hundred in the galleys, for 
violation of the salt laws. 

The number and uncertainty of the taxes discouraged all 
efforts at improved methods of cultivation. An Englishman 
named Arthur Young, who traveled extensively in France 574- im- 
in 1 787-1 789, found agricidture there worse practiced, fWiture^" 
and the tillers of the soil much worse off, than they were discouraged 
in England. A crop failure in one province frequently caused 
a local famine. The bad roads, tolls, and absurd governmental 
regulations prevented grain being sent in from other provinces 
where it was abundant. Even where the peasant was best off, 
he concealed his prosperity for fear of new taxes. "I should be 
lost," said one such, "if it were suspected that I am not dying 
of hunger." It has been estimated that the average peasant 
could count on less than one fifth of the produce of his labor for 
the support of himself and his family. The other four fifths 
went in taxes, tithe, and feudal dues. 

When Louis XVI, grandson of Louis XV, came to the throne 
(in 1774), he found the finances in a serious condition. The 
young king was amiable and just, but lacked decision of S7S- Ac- 
character and ability to rule. His queen, Marie Antoinette Lmds*XVI 
(aN-twa-net'), — the young, sprightly, frivolous, imperious (1774) 
daughter of Maria Theresa of Austria, — indulged in lavish 
expenditures and shortsighted intrigues in support of personal 
favorites. His own and his predecessor's costly wars piled 
up an enormous debt, which was increased by the extrava- 
gance and corruption of the court. 

Louis began his reign well by appointing Turgot (tiir-go') , an 
able and enlightened political economist, as minister of finance. 
Turgot's policy was stated in these words, " No bankruptcy, 
no increase of taxation, no loans." His edict establishing free 



48o 



THE EVE OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 



attempts 

reforms 

(1774-1776) These 



trade in grain was hailed by Voltaire as " the beginning of 
a new heaven and a new earth." Industry was freed from 

576. Turgot restrictions, the guilds dissolved, and forced labor on 
the roads abolished. 

measures nat- 
urally aroused violent oppo- 
sition from those who profited 
by the old abuses. The Parle- 
ment of Paris made itself the 
center of resistance, and Marie 
Antoinette joined the attack. 
The weak king thereupon dis- 
missed Turgot (1776) and re- 
called the reform edicts. With 
this step the last chance to save 
the old monarchy passed away. 
Turgot's successor as finance 
minister was Necker, a Swiss 
banker of slight ability. He 
sought to promote honesty and 

577. Necker economy in the administration, and he carried out many 

reveals the small reforms. The American war, however, forced up 
amount of . 

pensions the debt by leaps and bounds. Necker appealed to public 

(1781) opinion (now becoming an important force) by publish- 

ing an account of the finances. This revealed the enormous 
amount spent on "pensions" to the courtiers.^ The outcry 
produced at court by this act ended Necker's first ministry 

(1781). 

A rapid increase of financial difficulties followed, and in 1 786 
the government was unable to pay the interest on its loans. The 




Turcot 



1 The "pensions" amounted to ?5, 600,000 in 1780 and ^6,400,000 a Httle later. 
"I doubt," wrote Necker, "if all the sovereigns of Europe together pay in pensions 
more than half this sum." The amount paid from the treasury for the expenses of 
the royal family was ?8, 000,000, the three elderly sisters of the king receiving an 
allowance of ?i 20,000 a year for their food alone! It must be remembered that, 
owing to the rise of prices, these sums had a purchasing power fully three times that 
of to-day. 



FRANCE ON THE EVE OF THE REVOLUTION 48 1 

state was practically bankrupt. In 1 787 an Assembly of Notables 
(mainly members of the privileged orders) was held. But the 
selfish interests of its members, and the opposition of the 
Parlement of Paris, prevented any effective reforms. 

The Parlement of Paris opposed the levying of any new 
taxes. It was really defending the selfish privileges of the 
upper classes, but cloaked its dislike for reform under the 578. Re- 
assertion that "only the nation assembled in the Estates- ^ival of 
. 77.,. Estates- 

Ueneral can gtve the consent necessary to the estabhshtng of General 

a permanent tax." For more than a hundred and seventy demanded 
years (since 1614) no Estates-General had been held in France; 
indeed that body had met only fifteen times since it was first 
called together in 1302. Among those who now raised their 
voices in behalf of its revival was the marquis of Lafayette, 
who had so nobly aided the American colonists to secure their 
independence. ''What, Monsieur," cried the king's brother, 
on hearing Lafayette make this demand, "do you ask the con- 
vocation of the Estates-General?" "Yes, my lord," was the 
answer, "and even more than that." The cry for a meeting of 
the Estates- General now arose from all sides. The utter help- 
lessness of the French government made long resistance impos- 
sible. The king was forced to dismiss his unpopular ministers 
and to recall Necker to office. But it was too late for halfway 
measures. After a brief struggle, the vacillating king then 
agreed that the Estates-General should meet early, in 1789. 

The Old Regime throughout Europe was about to be sum- 
moned to the bar, to give place to a new order. It was France 
which "held, and was about to sound, the trumpet of judgment." 

IMPORTANT DATES 

1774. Accession of Louis XVI of France. 

1776. Publication of Adam Smith's " "Wealth of Nations." 

Turgot dismissed from the French ministry. 
1781. Necker reveals the amount of French " pensions." 
1787. The Assembly of Notables fails to find a remedy for the bank- 
ruptcy of France. 




Longitude 




4§3 



484 THE EVE OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 



TOPICS AND REFERENCES 

Suggestive Topics. — (i) What was the obstacle to the complete removal 
of the feudal abuses which oppressed the peasants? (2) Why were the 
oppressive guild regulations not repealed? (3) From what two sources 
would objections come to the removal of the censorship of the press? 
(4) State in your own words the connection between the advance of natural 
science and the French Revolution. (5) In what ways did England con- 
tribute to produce the Revolution in France? (6) Is there any simi- 
larity of ideas between Rousseau's Social Contract and the American 
Declaration of Independence? If so, how do you account for it? (7) Why 
did not the reforms of the " enlightened despots ".do away with the neces- 
sity for a revolution? (8) How did the aid which France gave the Ameri- 
can colonies contribute to bring about the French Revolution ? (9) Could 
a strong king in France have averted the Revolution? How? (10) What 
was the chief obstacle to a reform of the government in France ? 

Search Topics. — (i) English Influence on France. Lowell, Eve 
of the French Revolution, chs. ix-x; Dabney, Causes of the French Revolu- 
tion, 134-143. — -(2) Influence of Voltaire. Morley, Voltaire, ch. v; 
Lecky, England in the Eighteenth Century (cabinet ed.), VI, 183-206. — ■ 
(3) Diderot and the Encyclopedia. Lowell, ch. xvi. — (4) Rousseau. 
Dabney, ch. xxxv ; Lecky, VI, 239-270. — (5) Life of the French Court. 
Dabney, ch. xii ; Lowell, ch. xi. — (6) Nobles of France and England 
Compared. Taine, Ancient Regime, 43-55. — (7) Ranks and Classes in 
France. Matthews, French Revolution, 12-16, 42-47. — (8) Condition 
of the People. Lowell, eh. xiii; Dabney, 86-92; Robinson, Readings, 
II, 373-380. — (9) Taxation in France. Dabney, chs. xv-xvii; Lowell, 
pp. 207-242 ; Cambridge Modern History, VIII, 66-78. — (10) Turgot's 
Attempt at Reform. Hassall, Balance of Power, 237-239; Say, Turgot, 
chs. v-vii; Robinson, Readings, II, 386-390. — ■ (11) The Parlements 
and Reform. Matthews, French Revolution, 74-83, 93,' 108-110; Lecky, 
VI, 207-238, 293, 317-320. 

General Reading. — Lowell's Eve of the French Revolution is the best 
single book. Dabney's Causes of the French Revolution is graphic but 
uncritical. The first volume of Stephens's French Revolution, the Cambridge 
Modern History, vol. VIII, and MacLehose's Last Days of the French Mon- 
archy, are valuable. For more advanced study De Tocqueville's France 
before the Revolution, Taine's The Ancient Regime, and Arthur Young's 
Travels in France, should be consulted. 



CHAPTER XXV - 
THE FRENCH REVOLUTION (1789-1795) 
A. The Estates- General op 1789 

The decision to call together the Estates-General was fol- 
lowed by a flood of discussion as to how it should be constituted 
and what it should do. In previous sessions each of the 579. At- 
three orders had an equal number of representatives, and rangements 
each order voted by itself. This made it a legislature Estates- 
of three houses, in which the privileged orders — ^ the nobles General 
and clergy — always had two votes to one possessed by the 
Third Estate. Because of the great numbers and importance 
of the Third Estate, it was generally recognized that this arrange- 
ment was no longer possible. In a famous pamphlet, Sieyes 
(sya-yesO, a political writer, asked : " What is the Third Estate ? 
Everything. What has it hitherto been in the political order ? 
Nothing. What does it ask? To become something." 

Two demands especially were made in its behalf : (i) That it 
should be allowed double the number of representatives given 
to the nobles and to the clergy, — that is, as many as the other 
two orders combined. (2) That the members of the Estates 
should vote "by head" and not as orders, — in other words, that 
the three orders should sit together in a single assembly, in 
which the members voted as individuals. In the directions _ 
for electing representatives, the request for double representation 
was granted. Nothing, however, was said about the second 
. point, and without the " vote by head " the double representation 
of the Third Estate would be of little value. 

Famine was abroad in the land, due to a failure of harvests in 
1788, and an unusually severe winter; and the prevailing dis- 
tress intensified the discontent. In due course, the elections 

485 



486 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

were held. The nobles and the clergy met in district assemblies 
and chose their representatives direct. For the Third Estate 
gQ £jg^_ a more complicated plan was provided. Delegates were 
tions and elected by the taxpayers in each village and town, and 
e c lers ^j^ggg delegates, assembled in district conventions, chose the 
representatives of the Third Estate in the Estates-General. In 
all the election meetings, lists of grievances, called cahiers (ka- 
ya'), were drawn up. Altogether some fifty thousand of these 
lists were prepared, some of them extending to hundreds of 
pages. They give us an enormous mass of information concern- 
ing the abuses of the Old Regime and the reforms desired. A 
moderate spirit pervaded them all. Those of the Third Estate 
usually demanded the abolition of the vexatious remnants of 
feudalism which were described in the preceding chapter. All 
three orders alike, almost without exception, wished to put an 
end to absolute government, and to give France a constitution. 
The cahiers asked especially for the regular calling of the Estates- 
General, with power to vote taxes and to participate in the mak- 
ing of laws. They also asked that lettres de cachet and the censor- 
ship of the press should be abolished. The demand for Liberty 
was the keynote of the cahiers. They show little evidence, on 
the other hand, of a demand for Equality, — that is, for the total 
abolition of the rights of the privileged classes and the reduction 
of all persons to a common level before the law. 

The first session of the Estates- General was held on May 5, 

1789. It met at Versailles, the king's favorite residence. More 

581. Open- than half the representatives of the Third Estate were 

E^atet- lawyers. A few were liberal nobles. Not more than ten 

General' belonged to the lower classes. Fully two thirds of the 

representatives of the clergy were underpaid parish priests, 

who sprang from the people and sympathized with them far 

Matthews more than with the higher clergy. "As a whole the Es-. 

French Rew- tates-General represented the well-to-do classes. It was 

uhon, II ^^^ -^ ^j^g jg^g^ ^^ uncultured rabble, but was made up 

of the best blood of France." 

The speeches with which the king and his ministers opened 



THE ESTATES-GENERAL OF 1789 487 

the session made no mention of the proposal to give France a 
constitution, although the king had previously sanctioned it. 
It was evidently the intention to secure from the Estates ^^ ^j^^ 
the financial aid that was needed, and then dismiss that National 
body. To avoid this outcome the deputies of the Third ^^®°^°ly 
Estate insisted upon the mode of voting which should give them 
full advantage of their increased numbers. They refused to 
organize themselves as an order, and demanded that the nobles 




Oath or the Tennis Court 
From the contemporary picture by David 

and clergy should join them in a single body. This the two 
privileged orders declined to do. After the deadlock had con- 
tinued for six weeks, the members of the Third Estate took the 
daring step of declaring themselves the National Assembly. 
They claimed the right to grant all taxes and to give France the 
desired constitution. The fact that the Third Estate comprised 
practically ninety-eight per cent of the population of the king- 
dom was their warrant for this step. When they were excluded 
from their usual place of meeting, the deputies of the Third 
Estate took the famous "Oath of the Tennis Court" (June 20, 



488 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 



583. Work 
of Mira- 
beau 



1789), pledging themselves not to separate until "the consti- 
tution of the realm was established and fixed upon solid foun- 
dations." By this act, says an English historian, "they 
practically became rebels, and the French Revolution really 
commenced." 

The resolute stand of the Third Estate brought to their side 
more than half the deputies of the clergy, and some of the liberal 
nobles. Next day, at the close of a joint session over 
which Louis XVI presided in person, he commanded that 
each of the three orders should retire to its separate place, 
and that the vote be taken as formerly, by orders. Under 
the leadership of Count Mirabeau (me-ra- 
bo'), a man of extraordinary ability and 
courage but of dissolute life, the deputies 
of the Third Estate resolved to disobey, 
your master," cried Mira- 
the king's ofiicer, "that we 
are here by the will of the 
people, and that we will 
be removed only at the 
^*^ point of the bayonet." 
The weak king dreaded 
''^ civil war above all else. 
He therefore gave way, 
and ordered the other depu- 
tes to join the Third Estate 
^^une 27). The success of the 
revolution was thus assured. 
Much of the credit for this suc- 
cess belongs to Mirabeau. He was a nobleman of Provence 
(born 1749, died 1791), who had quarreled with his hot- 
headed father, and was forced to earn his living by writing 
political pamphlets. He was three times imprisoned on lettres 
de cachet for his escapades. When the nobles of his district 
refused to elect him to the Estates-General, he procured an 
election from the Third Estate. His eloquence, his wide 




MiKABEAU 



THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY 



489 



knowledge of history and government, and his great energy 
and decision of character easily made him the foremost leader 
of that body. He wished to set up in France a strong but 
limited monarchy, modeled on that of England, which he had 
studied at first hand during a short residence there. Unfor- 
tunately, Mirabeau was imprudent in many things which he 
said and did; and his influence in the National Assembly was 
never as great as it deserved to be. 



B. The National Assembly (i 789-1 791) 

The queen and the court party sympathized thoroughly with 
the partisans of the Old Regime, and were unwilling to accept 
defeat. Most unwisely they persuaded Louis to attempt 584. Fall of 
to coerce the Assembly by gathering his German and (juiy^j^ * 
Swiss troops about Paris and Versailles. This threat to 1789) 
the freedom of the Assembly called into action a new and fearful 




The Bastille (restored) 
Erected 1371-1383, and afterward used as a state prison 

force, the Paris mob. "It is the signal for a St. Bartholomew 
of patriots ! " cried a popular orator of the multitude. Rioting 
began, starving crowds broke into bakeshops to secure food, 
and gunshops were sacked. To get more arms with which to 
defend the Assembly, the mob, on July 14, 1789, proceeded to 
the Bastille (bas-tel')- This had long been the chief arsenal 



490 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

and royal prison of Paris, and was hated both because item- 
bodied the abuses of the Old Regime and because its cannon 
threatened the city. Several hundred unarmed men succeeded 
in entering the outer court of the Bastille, but the drawbridge 
was raised behind them and they were shot down in cold blood. 
This act roused the mob to fury. Old soldiers who had joined 
the mob directed their efforts in a formal attack. ^ After five 
hours' fighting the garrison surrendered. The victory was 
stained by the massacre of the commander of the Bastille and a 
few of the Swiss guard. The prisoners which it contained, 
numbering a half dozen, were set free. The walls of the Bastille 
were subsequently torn down, and only some rows of white 
stones now show where the frowning fortress once stood. When 
the king, at Versailles, was informed of what had occurred at 
Paris, he exclaimed, "Why, this is a revolt." "No, sire," was 
the reply, "it is a revolution." The anniversary of the fall of 
the Bastille is still celebrated as the birthday of French liberty. 
The uprising of the people did not stop with the overthrow of 
the Bastille. The government of Paris now passed into the hands 
585. Spread of a revolutionary committee of middle-class citizens, 
of the revolt called the Commune. A national guard composed mainly 
of citizens was organized and placed under the command of 
General Lafayette. In the face of these movements, the king 
again gave way. The Swiss and German troops were removed 
from the neighborhood of Paris ; and Louis himself put on the 
tricolored cockade, the emblem of the revolution. The reac- 
tionaries of the court, however, were still irreconcilable. Some 
of them, the so-called Emigres (a-me-gra' ; "emigrants"), already 
began to flee beyond the borders of the kingdom, to stir up 
foreign intervention and civil war. 

In the provinces the news of the revolt of Paris led everywhere 
to the setting up of revolutionary governments. In many places 
the peasants rose and burned the castles of their lords, in order 
to destroy the rolls which contained the evidences of their lords' 

1 Read the graphic account of the fall of the Bastille in Carlyle's French Revolu- 
tion, Bk. V, chs. v-vii. 



THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY 49 1 

manorial rights. News of these disorders in the provinces re- 
acted in turn upon the National Assembly at Versailles. 

On the night of August 4, some liberal nobles in the Assembly 
set the example of renouncing their feudal rights, and the con- 
tagion spread. Noble after noble arose to propose the 586. Aboli- 

surrender of this or that exclusive privilege. Game tionofpriv- 

... . . ileges," 

laws, dovecots, favoritism in taxation, the sole right (Aug. 4, 

of the nobles to military offices, were all surrendered. ^789) 
Finally, amid the wildest enthusiasm, a decree was passed, de- 
claring in detail that "the National Assembly hereby com- 
pletely abolishes the feudal system." A subsequent Anderson, 
decree (1790) went so far as to declare hereditary nobility, aniDocu^^ 
with its titles of duke, marquis, count, etc., "abolished ments, n 
forever," in France. 

In October, 1789, a disorderly mob of women and men marched 
to Versailles to bring the royal family to Paris. The action of 
the court could better be watched in the capital, and the 587- King 
Assembly more easily protected by the national guard, ^j -^ p^^.^ 
The palace of the Tuileries (twel-re') in Paris was hence- (Oct. 1789) 
forth the royal residence, and near it the National Assembly 
was now established. Aside from this incident, the revolution 
proceeded quietly for the next year and a half. In this period 
the Assembly was busied with framing — slowly, and bit by 
bit — the written constitution which it had promised in the 
Tennis Court Oath. Not until 1791 was the constitution ready 
in its final form. 

Following precedents established in some American state 
constitutions, the Assembly prefixed to its constitution a Dec- 
laration of the Rights of Man. This document has 588. Dec- 
exercised great influence on the opinions of mankind, so the^Rights 
its principal provisions must be noted. It declared : — of Man 

1. Men are born free and remain free and equal in their rights. 

2. The source of all sovereignty is in the nation. 

3. All citizens have the right to take part, personally or through ConsHMons 

their representatives, in making the laws, and all citizens and Docu- 
are equal in the eyes of the law. ments, 60-95 



492 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

4. No one shall be arrested or imprisoned except in cases provided 

by law, and according to its forms. 

5. Every man shall be presumed innocent until he is adjudged guilty. 

6. No one shall be molested on account of his religious or other 

opinions, unless their manifestation disturbs public order. 

7. Every person may freely speak, write, and print his opinions, sub- 

ject to such responsibility for the abuse of this freedom as shall 
be defined by law. 

8. Taxes shall be equally apportioned among all citizens according 

to their means. 

The constitution which accompanied the Declaration of 

Rights provided for a limited monarchy. Very few persons of 

s8o Con- consequence in France at that time believed in the prac- 

stiitution of ticability of a republic. The following are the chief 

^^^^ features of the new constitution: — 

I. The king's power was strictly limited, and he was given only a 

" suspensive veto " over laws, — that is, measures passed by three 

Anderson, successive legislatures became law even without his assent. 

and Docu- ^- '^^^ legislature consisted of a single house, elected for two 

ments,6o-Qs years, and might not be dissolved by the king. 

3. The right to vote was given all men who paid direct taxes amount- 

ing to the value of three days' labor a year. 

4. The old division of the kingdom into provinces was abolished, and 

eighty- three departments substituted therefor, — • a step which 
greatly contributed to the unity of France. 

Some laws passed while the constitution was being framed 
made almost equally important changes in the social and political 
organization. All guilds and similar exclusive corporations were 
abolished. The local government was placed in the hands of 
elected municipal bodies. A uniform system of law was pro- 
jected, and sweeping judicial reforms were made. 

Especially important were the laws which dealt with the 

SQo. Civil church. Tithes were abolished, monasteries were dissolved, 

constitution and freedom of worship was established for all religions. 

e c ergy rp^ meet the pressing financial needs of the government, 

the property of the church was confiscated, and the state 



THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY 493 

thenceforth undertook the support of the clergy. At the same 
time a "civil constitution" for the clergy was adopted, by which 
all, from bishops to parish priests, were to be elected by the people- 
The number of bishoprics was reduced more than one third, so 
that there should be only one for each department. By these 
arrangements the bishops were made practically officers of the 
state. All clergymen who refused to take an oath to support 
this constitution were dismissed from their offices. Only four 
of the old bishops, and about one third of the parish priests, 
took the prescribed oath. Many glaring abuses in the church 
were remedied by this reorganization. Nevertheless, the meas- 
ure proved a great mistake, since it shocked religious sensi- 
bilities and alienated from the revolution many thousand per- 
sons who hitherto had supported it. 

The use which was made of the confiscated church lands was 
also unwise. Along with crown lands and the confiscated estates 
of Emigres, the church lands — (aside from those immedi- 591- As- 
ately attached to cathedrals and other churches, which the^^de-^" 
remain to this day the property of the nation) — were preciation 
ordered to be sold. Pending their sale, assignats (a-sen'ya), a 
form of legal-tender paper currency, were issued on the credit of 
these lands. The overissue of these assignats, however, caused 
their value to decline until they passed only at a hundred for 
one in silver. Ultimately they were repudiated. 

Louis XVI accepted the above laws and solemnly swore to 
abide by the new order of things. Had he been allowed by 
those about him to keep this oath, the revolution might Death 

have been stopped at this point, and all would have been of Mirabeau 
well. But the king was weak and vacillating. He was ^'^'^^^^ 
easily swayed by his frivolous and unreasoning queen, Marie 
Antoinette, and by members of the court who resented the loss 
of their privileges. Mirabeau was the one real statesman that 
France possessed at that time. He sought to induce the king 
to abide loyally by the promises he had made, but to retire to 
some city in the interior of the country on the ground that he 
was not free at Paris, and there "throw himself into the arms of 



494 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

his people." Thus the growth of radicalism and mob control, 
which Mirabeau foresaw, would be checked. The one thing 
that Mirabeau urged the king not to do was to retire to the 
frontier, where the Emigres were gathering armed forces and 
stirring up foreign intervention.^ Unfortunately Mirabeau had 
compromised his influence by living dissolutely in his youth, 
and by accepting a secret pension from the king to relieve him 
from his burden of debts. His advice went unheeded. If 
Lafayette had been willing to join his influence to that of Mira- 
beau, the views of the latter might have prevailed and the mon- 
archy been saved. In April, 1791, Mirabeau died, worn out 
with dissipation, hard work, and disappointments. His death 
removed the only counselor in these troublous times who could 
have guided the ship of state to a safe haven. 

In June, 1791, Louis resolved to do the very thing which 
Mirabeau had urged him not to do. After secretly drawing up 
593. Growth a declaration in which he disavowed the measures of the 
UcM.^party" Assembly, Louis and the royal family fled by night from 
(1791) Paris. They directed their course toward the frontier of 

the Netherlands (Belgium), where a force of Emigres and Aus- 
trians awaited them. Within a few hours' ride of the frontier, 
the royal carriage was stopped and turned back to Paris. 
France realized with a shock that Louis XVI participated un- 
willingly in the work of reform, and would use foreign aid to 
overthrow it. A few weeks later a disorderly crowd gathered 
at Paris to sign a petition for his dethronement. In dispersing 
the mob the national guard under Lafayette fired and killed 
several persons. These events completed a separation which 
had long been growing among the supporters of the revolution. 
From this time its supporters may be divided into constitutional 
royalists and democratic republicans. 

In September, 1791, the National Assembly completed its 
labors. Louis formally ratified the constitution, and the As- 
sembly was dissolved. So far the revolution was under the 

1 See Mirabeau's secret memoir drawn up for the king in October, 1789. — Robin- 
son, Readings in European History, II, 412-417. 



A REPUBLIC ESTABLISHED 495 

control of the upper middle classes. In spite of some threaten- 
ing outbreaks of mob violence, liberal men in other coun- ^^^ ^he 
tries applauded its results. But from three sources the National 
stability of the new constitution was threatened: (i) From g^dsTts ^ 
the emigrant nobles, who stirred up foreign intervention, labors 
(2) From the democratic party, who wished a more ^^^pi; 
radical reform. (3) From the continued weakness and indeci- 
sion of the king. 

C. A Republic Established (i 791-1793) 

An unwise law passed by the National Assembly excluded its 
members from the Legislative Assembly which was provided 
for in the newly adopted constitution. The latter body, - -^ ^jj^ 
when it met in October, i79i,was thus without experienced Legislative 
guides. It proved more radical than the former Assembly. ^^^™ ^ 
The constitutional royalists at first controlled the government. 
But gradually the power passed to a group of theoretical re- 
publicans who were called " Girond'ists," from the region whence 
came their principal orators. A still more radical party, called 
the ''Mountain "from its elevated seats in the assembly hall, 
developed when foreign danger and internal disorders arose. 

The power which the "Mountain" possessed in the Legis- 
lative Assembly was due to the organized support which it 
received outside that body. From the beginning of the g ^j^^ 
revolution the people of France had followed the proceed- Jacobin 
ings at Paris with great eagerness. Many newspapers ^ " 
had sprung up as a result of the new liberty of printing, and 
these represented the widest variety of opinions. The freedom 
of discussion also led to the formation of a number of political 
clubs of various sorts. The most important of these was the 
society of the " Jac'obins." It was formed by some provincial 
members of the Third Estate, who hired a hall in the disused 
monastery of the Jacobin monks, from which the club received 
its name. Leading men of Paris, who were not members of the 
Legislative Assembly, were taken into the society ; and finally 



496 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 



its meetings became public and any one could attend. The 
policy of the Jacobins at first was merely to preserve and defend 
the work of the revolution against the attacks of the "aristo- 
crats" who sought to overthrow it. To assist in this work it 
organized a chain of daughter societies in the provinces. 
Through their aid it did much to form and organize public 
opinion, — a much needed work in a land so new to political life 
and so long oppressed by despotism. Gradually, however, the 
views of the club grew more radical, and the name Jacobin be- 
came a synonym for extreme democratic views and mob violence. 
The leaders of the "Mountain" belonged to this club, and 
were able to bring to the support of their views in the Assembly 
the organized popular support which that club offered them. 




The Jacobin Club (exterior) . From an old print 



The fact that the queen was related to the Austrian royal 
family, and the intrigues of the Emigres, made foreign interven- 
tion certain. Early in 1792 the Assembly declared war upon 
Austria, and this involved war with Prussia also, which was allied 



A REPUBLIC ESTABLISHED 



497 



with Austria. The war opened badly for France, because the 
zeal for liberty had disorganized and weakened the whole ad- 
ministration, and had destroyed the discipline of the army. 




After the first reverses, a cry of "Treachery !" was raised. 
Because the king had begun to show open hostility to the revo- 
lution, the Jacobin leaders now began to plot his over- 597- The 
throw. On August lo, a Parisian mob — aided by some stormed 
volunteers from Marseilles (mar-salz'), who raised en- (August lo) 
thusiasm to a white heat with the new revolutionary hymn, 
the Marseillaise (mar-se-y^z') — stormed the royal palace of 
the Tuileries. They massacred the Swiss guards of the king, 
and Louis and his family were forced to seek refuge in the hall 
of the Legislative Assembly. 

This whole movement was organized and carried out in prac- 
tical independence of the Assembly. Nevertheless that body, 
when the insurrection was accomplished, accepted its 598. The 
results. It decreed the suspension of the king from his convention 
office, and ordered him and his family into confinement, called 



498 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 



At the same time steps were taken to call a National Conven- 
tion, which was to decide the question whether the monarchy 
should continue or France be declared a republic.^ 

Before the new body met, Lafayette had abandoned the revo- 
lution. He was now in harmony with neither the radicals nor 
the royalists. He attempted to win over his army to the cause 
of the imprisoned king. Failing in this, he himself deserted to 
the Austrians, and was by them imprisoned for five years. 

The executive government meanwhile was put in the hands 

of a provisional ministry, of which the able and patriotic Danton 

599- In- was the heart and soul. 

He was the second 



vasion of 

France ^^ ^as 

repulsed great leader of the 
revolution to arise. He 
combined the eloquence and 
ability of Mirabeau with a 
purer life and more radical 
political views. But his face 
was pitted by smallpox, and 
his personal appearance was 
repulsive. Under his direc- 
tion great energy was shown 
in organizing the defense of 
France against its foreign in- 
vaders.^ The fruits of this were soon seen in a French victory 
at Valmy (val-me'; September 20, 1792). Influenced partly 
by jealousy of Austria, the Prussians then retreated. The 

1 The demand for a republic came originally from the Parisian club of the Cor- 
deliers, which in the beginning was more radical than the Jacobins. Its chief member 
was Danton (1759-1704), a lawyer of Paris who possessed great eloquence, energy, 
and practical ability. The calling of the National Convention to end the mon- 
archy came when the Girondists and Jacobins joined the Cordehersin demanding a 
republic. 

2 The continued advance of the Prussians produced a frenzy of rage and fear at 
Paris. In September, bands of assassins entered the prisons and systematically 
massacred hundreds of royalists who had been arrested after the king's suspension 
(the "September Massacres"). The Commune looked on approvingly; the Legis- 
lative Assembly disapproved but was helpless. 




Danton 



A REPUBLIC ESTABLISHED- 



499 



National Convention was thus enabled to deal with the ques- 
tion of the monarchy without the menacing presence of a 
foreign army on French soil. 

In the National Convention, which met September 21, 1792, 
most of the members were men who had gained experience 

through sitting in one of 600. The 

the two preceding x\s- monfrchy 

abolished 
semblies. The Conven- (sept. 21, 

tion was more radical ^792) 
than the Legislative Assembly, 
just as that body had been 
more radical than the National 
Assembly. Almost its first 
act (in which all members 
united) was to decree that 
" royalty is abolished in 
France," and to proclaim a 
republic. 

Violent disputes arose, how- 
ever, over further proceedings. 
The Girondists, who at ^^^ parties 
first controlled the Con- in the 
vention, feared the dictation of Parisian mobs. They °°^^^ ^**° 
wished to reduce the influence of the capital until it should be 
no greater than that of any other "department." They also 
wished to carry on the government in as orderly a way as if 
France were at peace. They were eloquent and patriotic men, 
but they did not understand the nature of the crisis which 
confronted France. They were " too full of vanity and exclusive 
party spirit, and too fastidious to strike hands with the vigorous 
and stormy Danton." On the other side stood the party of 
the Mountain, chief of whom were Danton, Ro'bespierre, and 
Marat (ma-ra').^ They saw the need of a strong centralized 

1 Robespierre (i 758-1 794) was a visionary provincial lawyer, who had sat in the 
Estates-General of 1789. He believed fanatically in the doctrines of Rousseau, and 
won many followers among the people by his sincerity and boasted honesty. He 




Robespierre 

From a painting in the Musee Carnavalel, 

Paris 



500 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

government for national defense, and were willing to override 
the law to secure this. They accepted the dictation of Paris 
as long as the crisis lasted, and were' ready to employ violent 
means to keep the royalists in subjection. The majority of the 
members of the Convention, however, adhered steadfastly to 
neither of these groups. 

The battle of Valmy was followed by a tide of French suc- 
cesses. French armies now carried the war into the lands of 
602. Revo- their enemies. Savoy was occupied, the principalities of 
lutionary the middle Rhine were overrun, and the Belgians were 
conques s assisted in their efforts to expel the Austrian rulers. These 
successes intoxicated the Convention, and its members believed 
their armies to be invincible. A decree of November 19, 1792, 
Lavisse and promised "fraternity and assistance to all peoples who 
Rambaud, desire their liberty." "All governments are our enemies," 
clnsraie Cried an orator of the Convention, "all peoples are our 
VIII, 243, friends. We shall be destroyed, or they shall be free." 
^"^"^ When democracy of the French sort proved unaccept- 

able, it was forced upon the liberated. peoples. Belgium (the 
Austrian Netherlands), Nice, and Savoy were annexed to 
France. 

To complete the destructive work of the revolution, the 

became a member of the Jacobin club, and was converted with that club to repub- 
licanism. The measure by which the members of the National Assembly excluded 
themselves from the Legislative Assembly was chiefly his work. His weak points 
were the impractical character of his views, and his extreme vanity. 

Marat (1743-1793) was a noted physician and writer, who in 1789 began to pub- 
lish a paper in Paris called The Friend of the People. He was moved by sincere pity 
for the sufferings of the common people, but was half crazed by jealousy and sus- 
picion of the "aristocrats." For a time he was forced to hide in cellars and sewers, 
where he contracted a loathsome and painful disease of the skin. Before Lafayette's 
desertion he wrote that "could he but rally at his call two thousand determined men 
to save the country, he would proceed at their head to tear out the heart of the in- 
fernal Lafayette in tne midst of his battalions of slaves. He would burn the monarch 
and his minions in his palace ; and impale on their seats the infamous legislators 
who negotiated with him and bury them in the burning ruins of their lair." Marat 
preached assassination of the people's enemies, and was the'chief agent in arousing 
the Parisian mob to action. He was stabbed to death in 1793 by a girl named Char- 
lotte Corday, because of his part in overthrowing the Girondists. His memory was 
worshiped by the lower classes of Paris, and execrated by the upper classes. 



A REPUBLIC ESTABLISHED 



501 



Convention ordered that Louis XVI should be brought to trial. 
The charge was that he had intrigued with foreign courts for 
the invasion of France. By an almost unanimous vote 603. Exe- 
the Convention declared "Louis Capet" guilty, and by a ^"^^?" °f„ 

• • • r 1 1 r^ r 1 LOUIS XVI 

small majority it passed sentence of death. Some of the (jan. 21, 

Girondists wished to submit the judgment to the vote ^793) 

of the people. But the leaders of the Mountain taunted their 

opponents with being concealed 

royalists, and caused this motion 

to be rejected. The next day 

Louis XVI was executed by means 

of the "guillotine." This was an 

instrument for beheading, named 

from a physician (Doctor Guillotin) 

whose recommendation brought it 

into use. The king met his fate 

with steadfast courage. But when 

he sought to address a few words 

to the crowd, his voice was drowned 

by the roll of drums. 

Opinion in England even among 
the Whigs, who favored liberty, 

had early showed signs of division over the events in France. 
Upon the fall of the Bastille, Charles James Fox, the most 604. Eng- 
liberal of English Whig leaders, wrote, "How much pr^nch 
the greatest event it is that ever happened in the world! Revolution 
and how much the best ! " On the other hand, Edmund 
Burke, one of the greatest of British orators and political phi- 
losophers, in a widely read pamphlet (1790) characterized the 
French Revolution as a "strange chaos of levity and Burke, 2?e^ec- 
ferocity, and of all sorts of crimes jumbled together with ^^o/m^'ow^ 
all sorts of follies." Its probable end, he thought, would in France, n. 
be a military despotism under some popular general. The 
British government was now carried on by William Pitt (a 
younger son of the Great Commoner), who was prime minister 
almost continuously from 1783 until his death in 1806. He 




The Guillotine 



502 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

agreed with Burke rather than with Fox, but wished sincerely 
to maintain peace. Several factors, however, forced him into 
war with France. Among these were the French annexation of 
Belgium, the threatened conquest of Holland (England's ally), 
and the horror excited in England by the execution of the French 
king. 

The actual declaration of war came in 1793 from France, whose 
leaders misunderstood British politics, and expected a demo- 

605. War cratic rising in their aid. Holland, Spain, Austria, Prus- 
between c,[q,^ and many smaller states, at about the same time, 
and France took up arms against the republic. Until the final down- 
(1793) fall of Napoleon Bonaparte, Great Britain was thenceforth 

the head of the resistance to France, and the paymaster of the 
coalitions formed against her. The British fleet guarded the 
seas, and British subsidies enabled Prussia, Austria, and other 
countries to maintain the war by land. The contest, in one 
aspect, was the last stage of the war between France and Eng- 
land for colonial and maritime empire. In another aspect it was 
the struggle of two' systems of political liberty, — the orderly, 
conservative, practical system of England, against the tumultu- 
ous, democratic, theoretical system of revolutionary France. 

The tide of success which followed the battle of Valmy was 
of short duration. By March, 1793, invasions of France had 

606. Failure begun from the north, south, and east. The shock of these 
Girondist events rudely awakened the enthusiasts of the Conven- 
government tion. A call for 300,000 troops, to be raised if necessary 

by conscription, led to an insurrection in the district called La 
Vendee (vaN-da') in western France. This was directed at first 
against conscription, but was soon turned into a priestly and 
royalist reaction. In the Convention the quarrels between the 
Girondists and the Mountain grew ever more bitter. Paris 
suffered from constant scarcity of food and high prices ; and the 
Girondists were loath to enact the stringent laws for govern- 
mental regulation which their opponents demanded. The 
populace of Paris, in patriotic frenzy, at last took the govern- 
ment of the city and the command of the civic troops entirely 



THE REIGN OF TERROR 503 

into its own hands. The stage was thus set for the next act in 
the drama of the French Revolution, — the overthrow of the 
incompetent Girondists, and the estabHshing of the Reign of 
Terror. 

D. The Reign op Terror 

The crisis in the quarrel between the Mountain and the 
Girondists came on June 2, 1793. On that day, the Parisian 
mob, supported by the national guard, invaded the hall 607. Fall of 
of the Convention and demanded the arrest of the Gi- ^^^^^ rjune 
rondist leaders. The demand was perforce complied with, 1793) 
and the Girondists as a political party ceased to exist. Their 
fall was due to the conviction that they were impractical 
visionaries, and that their rule in the Convention was the chief 
obstacle to unity and efficiency in the government.^ The Con- 
vention, now entirely under the control of the Mountain, drew 
up a republican constitution and submitted it to the people for 
ratification. This constitution was adopted, but it never came 
into force. The military situation at the time was too critical 
for the Convention to lay down its power, and when the crisis 
was past new ideas of government prevailed.^ 

1 Sixty-nine out of the eighty-three " departments " of France protested against the 
violence done to the Convention by the mob of Paris. The Girondists attempted to 
raise revolt in the west, the south, and the center of France, but were soon overpowered. 
"One thing strikes us in these poor Girondins — their fatal shortness of vision; 
nay, fatal poorness of character, for that is the root of it. They are as strangers to 
the People they would govern ; to the thing they have come to work in. Formulas, 
Philosophies, Respectabilities, what has been written in Books, and admitted by the 

Cultivated Classes : this inadequate Scheme of Nature's working is all that Nature, 
let her work as she will, can reveal to these men. So they perorate and speculate ; 
and call on the Friends of Law, when the question is,not Law or No-Law, but Life 
or No-Life. Their Formalism is great ; great also is their Egotism. A Republic 
founded on what they call the Virtues; on what we call the Decencies and Respect- 
abilities : this they will have, and nothing but this. . . . The men were men of 
parts, of Philosophic culture, decent behavior; not condemnable in that they were 
but Pedahf s, and had not better parts ; not condemnable, but most unfortunate. 
They wanted a Republic of the Virtues, wherein themselves should be the head; 
and they could only get a Republic of the Strengths, wherein others than they were 
head." — Carlyle, French Revolution, Part III, Bk. Ill, chs. iv and ix. 

2 The constitution of lygs is of interest as showing the ideas of the men of the 
Mountain on the subject of a permanent government. It provided : (i) that France 



504 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

As a result of the overthrow of the constitution of 1791, and 

the suspension of the one framed to take its place, the whole 

608. Gov- government was left in the hands of the Convention.^ 

ernment by -j^q -^gg |-]^jg power there was created a new executive 

Committee 

of Public body, in the form of a secret Committee of Public Safety. 

Safety 'pj^g formation of this committee marks the beginning of 

a reaction to secure greater unity and strength in the govern- 
ment, which had been weakened in the earlier stages of the 
revolution. It was composed of twelve members of the Conven- 
tion, who at first were to hold office for only a month at a time. 
Soon, however, they were continued from month to month. 
The creation of this body was largely the work of Danton, though 
he did not long continue a member. His work was chiefly in the 
Convention, whose members he aroused to energetic action. 
"We must dare," he cried, "and dare again, and ever dare, — 
and France is saved ! " Robespierre was the Committee's 
most conspicuous member, because of his reputation for in- 
corruptibility and his popularity in the Jacobin club. Its real 
work, however, was performed by others. Of these, the most 
notable person was Carnot (car-no'), who by his efficiency gained 
the enviable name of "Organizer of Victory." 

From September, 1793, to July, 1794, the Committee of Public 
Safety ruled France almost despotically. Practically all power 

should be a republic, "one and indivisible " ; (2) that all Frenchmen should have the 
right to vote, without regard to paying taxes ; (3) that the legislature should consist 
of a single chamber, elected for one year ; (4) that all laws passed by the legislature 
should be submitted to a referendum of the people; (5) that the executive power 
should be placed in the hands of a council chosen by the legislature. — Anderson, 
Constitutions and Documents, pp. 170-182. 

1 In order to break completely with the past, the Convention adopted an entirely 
new calendar. The date of the establishment of the republic (September 22, 1792) 
was taken as the beginning of the new era. Twelve months of thirty days each were 
instituted, with five or six supplementary days at the end of the year ; and the months 
were divided into three "decades" each, instead of weeks. For the old names of 
the months the following were substituted : Vendemiaire (Vintage month), Brumaire 
(Fog month), and Frimaire (Frost month) for autumn; Nivose (Snow month), Plu- 
viose (Rain month), and Ventose (Wind month) for winter; Germinal (Budding 
month), Floreal (Flower month), and Prairial (Meadow month) for spring; and 
Messidor (Harvest month), Thermidor (Heat month), and Fructidor (Fruit month) 
for summer. This calendar was used by France until January i, 1806. 



THE REIGN OF TERROR 505 

passed into its hands, and the Convention became little more 
than its mouthpiece. The Committee organized and fed the 
armies, directed the military operations, and put down internal 
disaffection with a stern hand. Representatives of the Com- 
mittee (called "Deputies on mission") accompanied the armies 
to watch over the generals, thus guarding against disloyalty and 
infusing greater zeal into their efforts. By the same means the 
elected local governments throughout France were practically 
suspended, everything being managed by these agents of the 
Committee. During the time that the Committee of Public 
Safety was in full power, it put fourteen armies in the field, and 
expelled from France its foreign invaders.^ 

The chief means used to break resistance at home was the 
Reign of Terror. The menace of the guillotine fell upon all ^ Reign 
who incurred the popular wrath, or whom policy or ambi- of Terror 
tion found in the way. Two laws, passed in September, ^^793-1794) 
1793, constituted the basis of the system. By the Law of the 

1 Carlyle admirably portrays the spirit infused into the armies by the Committee 
of Public Safety. "These soldiers have shoes of wood and pasteboard, or go booted 
in hay-ropes, in dead of winter. What then ? ' With steel and bread,' says the Con- 
vention representative, 'one may go to China.' The generals go fast to the guillo- 
tine, justly and unjustly. Ill-success is death ; in victory alone is life ! To conquer 
or die is a practical truth and necessity. All Girondism, Halfness, Compromise is 
swept away. Forward, ye soldiers of the Republic, captain and man ! Dash, with 
your GalHc impetuosity, on Austria, England, Prussia, Spain, Sardinia, Pitt, Co- 
bourg, York, and the Devil and the World ! Behind us is but the Guillotine ; before 
us is Victory, and Millennium without end ! See accordingly on all frontiers, how the 
'Sons of Night,' astonished after short triumph, do recoil ; — the Sons of the Repub- 
lic flying at them with the temper of cat-o'-mountain, or demon incarnate ; which no 
Son of Night can stand ! Spain, which came bursting through the Pyrenees, and 
went conquering here and there for a season, falters at such cat-o'-mountain wel- 
come; draws itself in again; too happy now were the Pyrenees impassable. Gen- 
eral Dugommier invades Spain by the Eastern Pyrenees; General Miiller shall 
invade it by the Western. 'Shall,' that is the word. Committee of Public Safety 
has said it; Representative Cavaignac, on mission there, must see it done. 'Im- 
possible!' cries MiiUer; 'Infallible!' answers Cavaignac. Difficulty, impossibiUty, 
is to no purpose. 'The Committee is deaf on that side of its head,' answers Cavai- 
gnac. 'How many wantest thou, of men, of horses, of cannon? Thou shalt have 
them. Conquerors, conquered, or hanged. Forward we must.' Which things also, 
even as the Representative spake them, were done." — Carlyle, French Revolution, 
Part III, Bk. V, ch. vi (condensed). 



5o6 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

Suspects all persons might be accused who, "by their conduct, by 
their relations, or by their conversation or writings, have shown 
themselves partisans of tyranny or federalism {i.e. of the Gi- 
rondists) and enemies of liberty." The only safety for former 
nobles or royalists, and their families, lay in attachment to the 
revolution. The Law of the Maximum, in defiance of the 
teachings of political economy, fixed the prices in paper money 
at which provisions, clothing, firewood, tobacco, etc., must be 
sold. The possibility of prosecution under this law extended 
the Terror to the petty tradesmen. To judge persons accused 
under these acts, as well as those accused of other political 
offenses, a Revolutionary Tribunal was set up, whose almost 
invariable sentence was death. Through the "Deputies on 
mission" the Terror was extended into every part of France. 
In some places (as at Nantes, where prisoners were drowned 
wholesale) the deputies abused their powers. But revolt was 
suppressed, and internal peace restored. 

At Paris the number of executions by the Revolutionary 
Tribunal increa,sed rapidly. It became the established custom 
6io Vic- ^° ?>tnd batches of prisoners to the guillotine each day. 
tims of the At first the average was only three victims a week. Then 
Terror -^ ^^^^ ^^ thirty-two. In June and July, 1794, the number 

of victims reached one hundred and ninety-six a week. Among 
the early victims of the Terror were the queen (Marie Antoi- 
nette), together with twenty-one of the fallen Girondist leaders. 
The total number who perished by the guillotine at Paris was 
over 2500. To these must be added about 12,000 who 
perished, with or without the semblance of a trial, in the 
provinces. 

Two points concerning the Terror should be noted, (i) It 
was in no sense the work of a mob, but was a government policy 
gradually adopted. Designed at first to crush the enemies of 
the republic, it was perverted to party and personal ends. 
(2) Outside of the Vendee, rural France sufifered very little. 
Even at Paris the great majority of the people were unaffected, 
and went about their occupations and amusements as usual. 



THE REIGN OF TERROR 507 

At the height of the Terror, there were twenty-three theaters 
open nightly, and some sixty places for dancing. 

From two quarters in the Mountain itself the Committee of 
Public Safety met with opposition, (i). The extreme radicals 
of the Commune of Paris under the leadership of Hebert ^jj p^jj ^f 
(a-bar'), the editor of a coarse and violent journal, clamored Danton 
for more bloodshed. They attacked the rich as the ene- ^^"^^^^ 
mies of the people, closed the churches, and set up with wild 
orgies the worship of "the goddess Reason." These excesses 
led Robespierre (who was a deist) to denounce the Hebertists 
as atheists. When they attempted an insurrection of the city, 
they were seized, condemned, and guillotined (March, 1794). 
(2) Danton, on the other hand, soon opposed the Committee 
because he believed the Terror had accomplished its work, had 
gone too far, and now (thanks to French victories) was no longer 
needed. Robespierre seized this opportunity to strike down 
his rival in popularity. The Committee as a whole aided him, 
because it wished to insure its power by extending the Terror 
over the Convention itself. Danton and his chief adherents 
were therefore arrested, accused of conspiracy, and after the 
mockery of a trial were hurried to execution (April, 1794).^ 

Freed from competitors for public favor, Robespierre proposed 
to set up a Reign of Virtue, founded upon the teachings of Rous- 
seau. In this new system he himself was to be the prin- 6j2. pall of 
cipal figure. In order to check atheism, the worship of Robespierre 
"the Supreme Being" was estabhshed, and Robespierre ^^"^^^^ 

" Danton was warned of his danger, but declined to use force or to flee. "Better 
to be guillotined than to guillotine," he said; and also: "Where should I go that 
I shall not be thought guilty ? If France, when she is at last free, casts me from her 
bosom, what country will give me an asylum?" Probably he was overconfident of 
his abihty to outmatch Robespierre, whom he despised. At his trial he cried out : 
"Let the cowards who calumniate me confront me. My life ! I am weary of it; 
I long to be quit of it. Men of my stamp have no price. On their foreheads are 
stamped in ineffaceable characters the seal of liberty, the genius of republicanism." 
At his execution he said, thinking of his newly wedded wife : "My darling, shall I no 
more behold thee?" Then he added: "Come, Danton, no weakness." And to 
the executioner he said : "Show my head to the people. It is worth while ; they do 
not see the like every day." — Beesly, Life of Danton, ch. xxix. 



THE RETGN OF TERROR 509 

presided at a great festival of the new cult. He was now .at 
the height of his power, but a reaction was preparing. "Robes- 
pierre will follow me : I drag down Robespierre," Danton had 
predicted. So it was to prove. Robespierre's colleagues had 
little sympathy with his fine-spun ideas, and they felt themselves 
menaced by his ascendancy. On July 27, 1794 (9th Thermidor), 
his opponents, after a stormy scene, arrested him on the floor 
of the Convention. He was rescued by the Jacobin club ; but 
his enemies, now rendered desperate, recaptured him. The 
next day he and his adherents met the fate which they had in- 
flicted upon the Hebertists and the Dantonists. " Not Stephens 
only his enemies but his colleagues threw upon him the Revolutionary 
responsibility for all the atrocities included under the ^^°P^' ^47 
name of the Terror." But the blame, as well as the credit, for 
its rule belongs chiefly to men of obscurer name. 

With the fall of Robespierre the Terror came to an end. New 
members were gradually added to the Committee of Public 
Safety, and the moderate policy for which Danton had 613. The 
pleaded was adopted. The club of the . Jacobins was g^^gd 
closed, the Law of the Maximum was repealed, and im- (i 794-1 705) 
prisoned deputies were restored to their seats. The four living 
persons who were chiefly responsible for the Terror were ordered 
to be deported to French Guiana (April, 1795). In May oc- 
curred a revolt, in which the famished Parisian mob broke into 
the Convention, crying, "Bread, and the Constitution of 1793." 
Victory over these rioters was followed by new condemnations 
of Terrorists, and the Mountain as a party was broken up. The 
middle classes, enriched by the spoils of the revolution, now 
came to the front ; and concealed royalists emerged from their 
hiding places to take vengeance on their enemies. 

While order was restored at home, the number of France's 
enemies abroad was reduced. The visionary attempt to estab- 
lish democracies everywhere was given up, and this broke gj Peace 
the league of her foes. In 179S, Prussia and Spain made with Prussia 
peace with France at Basel, and recognized the republic. ^^ ^^^" 
Holland, conquered in 1 794-1 795, was organized as the Bata- 



5iO THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

vian Republic, and brought into close alliance. With Great 
Britain and Austria, however, the war still continued. 

E. The Directory Established 

615. "Con- The leaders of the Convention saw the continued 
stitutionof necessity of a permanent executive power possessed of 
III" (1795) sufficient force and unity to cope with disorder. To 
Anderson, secure this they prepared the "Constitution of the Year 
Constitutions m " (1795). This was the third constitution to be 

and Docu- ^'^ 

ments, 212- adopted, and was the second to go into force. Its chief 
^54 provisions were : — 

1. The executive power was intrusted to a Directory of five members, 

chosen by the legislature. 

2. The legislature was to consist of two houses, the members of which 

were elected for three years. 

3. Only those citizens who paid direct taxes and had a fixed residence 

were allowed to vote. 

The new constitution sought to guard at the same time 
Aulard, against mob rule and against the despotism of an in- 

lution III ' dividual. "There should never be another Robespierre, 
312 almost every line of the Constitution emits that cry." 

To guard themselves against proscription, and to check roy- 
alist intrigues, the Convention decreed that two thirds of the 

616. Rising first members of the legislature must be elected from among 
Vendemi- their own ranks. This provision provoked what was prac- 
aire (1795) tically the last of the revolutionary revolts of Paris, — 

the rising of October 5, 1795 (13th Vendemiaire). It was an 
insurrection of the middle classes and royalist sympathizers. 
The defense of the Convention was placed in the hands of a 
young artillery officer, Napoleon Bonaparte, who had lately 
been dismissed from employment because of his refusal to accept 
an unsatisfactory appointment. Bonaparte's cannon did ter- 
rible execution on the advancing columns of the mob, and the 
revolt was put down. This "whiff of grapeshot" taught Paris 
that the day of riot and mob rule was a thing of the past. 



THE DIRECTORY ESTABLISHED 511 

The Convention then made the necessary arrangements for 
the new government, and quietly disbanded. Its last act was 
an amnesty for political offenses committed since the be- 617. The 
ginning of the republic. The new government was entirely established 
in the hands of men of moderate opinions. The Directors (1795) 
chosen had all been members of the Convention, and had voted 
for the execution of the king. Only one of them (Carnot) 
had been a member of the Committee of Public Safety. 

Within seven years France had experienced almost every form 
of government. The absolutism of the Old Regime had given 
way to a weak constitutional monarchy ; this in turn had ^jg Review 
been followed by a republic in which practically all power of the rev- 
was vested in an unwieldy Assembly (i 792-1 793) ; and °^^°^ 
following this came the executive despotism of the Committee 
of Public Safety, and the Reign of Terror (i 793-1 794). Leaders 
representing all shades of political liberty — Mirabeau, the Gi- 
rondists, Danton, Robespierre — had succeeded one another. 
The excess of freedom had wrought its cure. France was now 
prepared to try a government which promised strength of ex- 
ecutive, with reasonable liberty, fraternity, and equality. The 
mistakes and atrocities of the revolution — the mob violence, 
the Terror, the revolutionary propaganda, the theatrical wor- 
ship of Reason and of the Supreme Being — were in part due 
to the emotional, volatile temperament of the French. In 
part also they were due to the lack of opportunity, under the 
Old Regime, to acquire experience in managing their own affairs. 

It remained for the future to show whether the new govern- 
ment would be strong enough to maintain order at home and 
secure peace abroad ; or whether, upon the ruins of its policies, 
there should arise a new monarchy based on military power, suc- 
cessful intrigue, and the will of the people. 

IMPORTANT DATES 

1789. Estates-General meets and is transformed into the National 

Assembly. 
1791. First constitution completed and accepted by the king. 



512 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION ^ 

1792. War with Austria and Prussia begun ; growth of repubUcan ideas. 
The National Convention abolishes the kingship. 

1793- Jan. 21. Louis XVI executed; England joins the war against 

France. 
June. Fall of the Girondists. 
September. Reign of Terror begun. 

1794- July- Execution of Robespierre ends the Reign of Terror. 
1795. Peace with Prussia and Spain signed. Government of the 

Directory established ; end of violent phase of the Revolution. 

TOPICS AND REFERENCES 

Suggestive Topics. — (i) Was the transformation of the Estates- General 
into the National Assembly necessary for the reform of the abuses under 
which France suffered? Why? (2) What was the significance of the 
fall of the BastiUe? (3) How did the organization of the national guard 
contribute to the success of the Revolution? (4) Do the nobles deserve 
much credit for their surrender of their feudal rights on August 4? Why? 
(5)' To what extent are the principles of the Rights of Man now in force 
in the United States? Were any of them in force in France before the 
Revolution? (6) Was the Constitution of 1791 more or less radical than 
the constitution in Great Britain at that time ? What was the chief 
difference in their constitutions? (7) What good did the Jacobin club do? 
What iU? (8) Sum up the things which contributed to the growth of a 
republican party in France. (9) How long was the Constitution of 1791 
in force? (10) How did the wars contribute to its overthrow? (11) Was 
the execution of the king justifiable? Was it expedient? (12) Was Fox 
or Burke nearer right in his estimate of the French Revolution? (13) Why 
was the addition of Great Britain to the ranks of the enemies of France 
so important? (14) Was the overthrow of the Girondists deserved? 
Why? (15) What arguments might be used for and against the Reign 
of Terror? (16) What is your opinion of Robespierre? (17) In what 
ways does the establishing of the Directory mark a step in advance? 
In what ways was it a backward step? (18) Was the Revolution up to 
1795 a success or a failure? Give your reasons. 

Search Topics. — (i) The Cahiers. Lowell, Eve of the French Revolu- 
tion, ch. xxi; Robinson and Beard, Readings, I, 248-251; University of 
Pennsylvania, Translations, IV, No. 5, 24-36. — (2) Meeting of the 
Estates- General. Stephens, French Revolution, I, 55-67; Mathews, 
French Revolution, ch. ix; MacLehose, From the Monarchy to the Republic, 
chs. iv-vi. — (3) Early Life of Mirabeau. Von Hoist, French Revolu- 
tion, I, lect. v. — (4) Mirabeau and the Revolution. Johnston, 
French Revolution, ch. vii; Gardiner, French Revolution, 35-37, 56-58, 82- 



TOPICS AND REFERENCES 513 

8s ; Stephens, Revolutionary Europe, 73-76 ; Von Hoist, II, Lectures vii, xi ; 
Stephens, French Revolution, I, ch. xiv. — (5) Fall of the Bastille. 
Mathews, 125-137; Stephens, French Revolution, 1, 128-145; MacLehose, 
ch. viii ; Carlyle, French Revolution, Bk. V, chs. v-vi. — (6) The Mob at 
Versailles. MacLehose, chs. xi-xii; Stephens, French Revolution, I, 219- 
228; Carlyle, Bk. VII, chs. iv-viii. — (7) Flight of the Royal Family. 
Johnston, ch. viii ; Gardiner, 86-91 ; Stephens, French Revolution, I, ch. xv. 

— (8) Why the French People Hated Marie Antoinette. Lecky, 
VI, 545-550; McCarthy, French Revolution,, chs. xii-xiv. — (9) The 
Jacobin Club. Johnston, 94-95; Farmer, Essays in French History ("The 
Club of the Jacobins"); Robinson and Beard, Readings, I, 285-287. 

— (10) The September Massacres. Mathews, 195-206 ; Stephens, 
French Revolution, II, ch. iv. — (11) Trial and Execution of Louis XVI. 
Johnston, ch. xi; Carlyle, II, Bk. IV, chs. vi-viii. — (12) The Reign of 
Terror. Stephens, French Revolution, II, ch. x; Mathews, 224-233; 
Gardiner, 163-187. — (13) Robespierre and his Overthrow. Mathews, 
ch. xxviii; Ten Brink, Robespierre, 129-140, 378-405 (favorable). 

General Reading. — The histories of the French Revolution by Johnston, 
Mathews, Mrs. Gardiner, and Belloc are all brief and good. Rose's Revo- 
lutionary and Napoleonic Era and Stephens's Revolutionary Europe are brief 
general histories of Europe in this period. Stephens's History of the French 
Revolution (2 vols.) is the best account in English to the point at which it 
stops (1795). Aulard's Political History of the French Revolution (4 vols.) 
is the work of a master in this field, but is too advanced for high school use. 
Carlyle's French Revolution is antiquated, but should still be read for its 
brilliant pictures of Revolutionary scenes. The Cambridge Modern History, 
vol. VIII, is valuable for advanced students. 



CHAPTER XXVI 

THE RISE OF NAPOLEON BONAPARTE (1795-1804) 

A. Early Life and the Italian Campaign 

The time was approaching when (as Burke prophesied) the 
government of France was to pass into a military despotism 

619. Early under a popular general, — Napoleon Bonaparte. This 
Bonaparte great soldier was born of a good Italian family, in Corsica, 
(1769-1795) in 1769, — the year following the annexation of that island 

to France. He embodied "the typical Corsican temperament, 
moody and exacting, but withal keen, brave, and constant." 
At the age of nine young Bonaparte was admitted to a govern- 
ment military school in northeastern France. At sixteen he 
began his service in the French army as junior lieutenant of 
artillery. His proud, imperious nature, his poverty, and his 
foreign birth and speech cut him off from his fellows. He di- 
rected his early thoughts and ambitions chiefly toward schemes 
for the independence of Corsica. Only gradually did the French 
Revolution ''blur his insular sentiments," and cause him to lay 
aside his local patriotism. 

For a time Bonaparte was much in the company of Jacobins. 
But the sight of a Parisian mob invading the Tuileries and 

620. Bona- insulting the royal family, in 1791, called forth the sig- 

parte and nificant exclamation : " Why don't they sweep off four or 

the revolu- ^11,^1 1 1 i • 1 -^ mi 

tion (1789- five hundred of that rabble with cannon ? The rest would 

1795) then run away fast enough ! " Trained officers were scarce 

under the revolution, so his promotion was rapid, in spite of 

repeated acts of insubordination. In 1793, at Toulon (too-loN'), 

he first gave evidence of his energy and genius in directing the 

artillery in the siege of that rebellious city; In 1795 he was 



EARLY LIFE AND THE ITALIAN CAMPAIGN 



515 



back in Paris, deprived of his command, without money or 
friends, and suspected because of his Jacobin connections. His 
defense of the Convention against the mob in October, 179S, 
proved a turning point in his career. "From the first," says 
an eyewitness, "his activity was astonishing. He seemed Thiebault, 
to be everywhere at once. He surprised people by his ^emotres 

laconic, clear, and 
prompt orders. Every- 
body was struck by the 
vigor of his arrange- 
ments, and passed from 
admiration to confi- 
dence, from confidence 
to enthusiasm." In re- 
ward for his services he 
was appointed by the 
Directory to his first im- 
portant command, that 
of the French army op- 
erating against the Aus- 
trians and their allies in 
Italy. 

Bonaparte was now 
but twenty-seven years 
old. He was below the 
middle height in stature, excessively thin, and very pale. 
Some of the ablest generals of the revolutionary army 621. The 

served under him. All yielded to the indomitable will ^}^^^^^. 

■^ _ campaign 

revealed in his flashing eye, to the brilliancy of his (i 796-1 797) 
plans, and to the clearness and decision of his orders. The rank 
and file were thrilled by the burning words of his first proclama- 
tion : " Soldiers, you are ill-fed and almost naked. The Correspon- 
government owes you much, but can do nothing for you. .^J^^^ j '^' 
Your patience and courage do you honor, but procure you 107 
neither glory nor profit. I am about to lead you into the most 
fertile plains of the world. There you will find great cities and 




Bonaparte in 1795 
From a drawing by Guerin 



5i6 THE RISE OF NAPOLEON BONAPARTE 

rich provinces. There you will win honor, glory, and riches. 
Soldiers of the Army of Italy, will you lack courage ?" 

The Italian campaign which followed was one of the most 
brilliant in history, and well illustrates Bonaparte's military 
genius. His quick mind seized upon every geographical detail 
which might help or hinder his operations. He was prompt to 
guess the plans of his enemies, while he bewildered them by the 
rapidity and daring of his own well-calculated maneuvers. His 
favorite device was to meet the detachments of the enemy 
separately, rapidly concentrating upon each the whole of his 
effective force. In this campaign his first step was to separate 
the troops of Sardinia-Piedmont from the Austrians. Then he 
defeated the Piedmontese five times in eleven days, menaced 
their capital (Turin), and forced their king to sign a treaty 
of peace. He next skillfully turned the flank of the Austrian 
army, and compelled it to fall back. He forced the passage 
of the bridge of Lo'di in the face of a galling fire (an exploit 
which won from his admiring soldiers his lifelong nickname of 
"the Little Corporal"), and occupied Milan. A part of the 
Austrian army took refuge in the strong fortress of Man'tua, 
and was there besieged by Napoleon. Four times the Austrian 
government poured its armies across the Alps to relieve the 
beleaguered fortress ; but in February, 1797, Mantua fell. The 
results of the year of fighting were summed up by Bonaparte 
in a proclamation to his army (here somewhat shortened) : — 

"The capture of Mantua has put an end to a campaign which 

has given you lasting claims to the gratitude of the Fatherland. 

622. Napo- You have been victorious in fourteen pitched battles 

eons sum- ^^^ -^ seventy combats. You have taken more than one 
mary or -' 

results himdred thousand prisoners, five hundred fieldpieces, two 

thousand heavy cannon, and four pontoon trains. The contri- 
butions laid upon the lands you have conquered have fed, 
Correspon- maintained, and paid the army during all the campaign. 
■bTlSon IT '^ Besides this, you have sent thirty million francs to 
372-373 the Minister of Finance for the relief of the public treasury. 

You have enriched the Museum of Paris with three hundred 



EARLY LIFE AND THE ITALIAN CAMPAIGN 517 

masterpieces of ancient and modern Italy, which it has required 
thirty centuries to produce. The kings of Sardinia and Naples, 
the Pope, and the duke of Parma have abandoned the coalition 
of our enemies and sought our friendship. You have expelled 
the English from Leghorn, (ienoa, and Corsica. Of all the 
enemies who combined to stifle the Republic at its birth, only 
the Emperor remains before us. There is no hope for peace save 
in seeking it in the heart of the hereditary states of the house 
of Austria." 

The invasion of Austria, announced in this proclamation, 
presented few difficulties. By April, 1797, Bonaparte had ad- 
vanced to within eighty miles of Vienna. Preliminaries 623. Peace 
of peace were then signed, which in October were con- poririio^" 
verted into the treaty of Campo For'mio. In the interval (1797) 
between the preliminaries and the final treaty, Bonaparte found 
pretexts for treacherously conquering the once glorious republic 
of Venice ; and the treaty provided, among other things, for 
its partition. By this treaty — 

1. The Emperor granted Belgiimi (the Austrian Netherlands) to 

France. 

2. He accepted the Rhine as the eastern frontier of the republic. 

3. He gave up Milan, to which were joined lands taken from the Pope- 

and Venice to form the Cisalpine Republic. 

4. In return Austria received most of the Venetian territories. 

In his diplomatic negotiations, as in his military operations, 
Bonaparte acted as though he were practically independent. 
His services were too important, however, to permit the Direc- 
tors to take offense. With the French people his popularity 
was increased as much by the treaties which he dictated as by 
his victories in the field. Upon his return to Paris he was given 
a triumphal reception such'a^s was accorded to no other French 
general. Already the way was opening for him to seize political 
power. 

With England alone — called by one of the Directors the 
"giant corsair that infests the seas" — the war still continued. 



5l8 THE RISE OF NAPOLEON BONAPARTE 

In 1796 a French expedition to Ireland failed because of storms. 

The next year a Spanish fleet of twenty-seven ships was de- 
624. War feated and practically destroyed by the British in a battle 
with Eng- °^ Cape St. Vincent. The Dutch fleet, which put to sea 
land in obedience to orders of the Directors, was crushed in the 

battle of Camperdown in the same year. With the British in 

complete control of the Channel, an invasion of England or 

Ireland became hopeless. 



B. The Expedition to Egypt (i 798-1 799) 

Bonaparte now urged upon the Directors an expedition to 
Egypt, which was a province of the Turkish Empire. His 
62 s Exne- object was partly to prepare the way for an attack on 
dition to Great Britain's power in India. His purpose was also 
gyp (.179 ) ^Q maintain his own prestige in France. "The people of 
Paris do not remember anything," said Bonaparte. "Were I 
to remain here long, doing nothing, I should be lost. In this 
great Babylon everything wears out. My glory has already 
disappeared. This little Europe does not supply enough of it 
for me. I must seek it in the East. All great fame comes from 
that qua^rter." The Directors were not sorry to be rid for a 
time of their most ambitious general, and gave their consent to 
his plan. In May, 1798, the Egyptian expedition set out. It 
included veterans of the army of Italy, together with Bona- 
parte's favorite generals. He took with him also a corps of 
-n J-.. scholars to study the monuments of the East. "The 
of Napoleon true conquests," said Bonaparte at one time, "the only 
■'"' ^^° conquests which cost no regrets, are those achieved over 

ignorance." 

On the way to Egypt the French seized the island of Malta, 
which had been under the rule of the Knights of St. John since 
the sixteenth century. Escaping a British squadron cruising in 
the Mediterranean, Bonaparte landed safely in Egypt. Near 
Cairo the French were forced to fight the "battle of the Pyra- 
mids" (July, 1798), in which French infantry squares, defended 



THE EXPEDITION TO EGYPT 



519 



Route 



'of th.« 



itisl^ 



Squadron. ^-.^^ eritish ships 

SI"''''''' ..•.,..-•' j AGROUND 

/"^ .■■■' ,^ 

ABOUKIRI. •:, ^ V,. 



Shallow 
Water 






by bayonets, muskets, and grapeshot, successfully resisted, with 
a loss of but forty men, the charges of the Egyptian cavalry. 
This battle practically completed the conquest of lower Egypt. 

A few days later Admiral Nelson, in command of the British 
squadron in the Mediterranean, came upon the French fleet 
in Aboukir (a-boo-ker') Bay, and fought the "battle of ^^6 Failure 
the Nile" (August, 1798). The French, who slightly in Egypt 
outnumbered the British in guns and men, swung at anchor ^^'^^ ~^799; 
just outside shoal water. "Where there is room for a French 
ship to ride at anchor," said Nelson, "there is room for an Eng- 
lish ship to sail." He 
thrust part of the British 
fleet between the French 
and the shore and stationed 
the remainder on the other 
side. The ships of the 
French line were thus sub- 
jected to a deadly cross fire. 
The battle lasted far into 
the night. The French 
flagship took fire and ex- 
ploded, and nearly all the 

French ships were captured or burned. Nelson's victory cut off 
the French in Egypt from support, and foredoomed the expedi- 
tion to failure. It also deprived France of communication with 
its best troops and ablest general at a time of great need. 

Encouraged by Nelson's victory, the Sultan of Turkey, as 
suzerain of Egypt, prepared a vast army to attack the French. 
Bonaparte anticipated the attack by marching into Syria, where 
he defeated the Turks. His schemes of further conquest failed, 
however, and he was forced to retire to Egypt. 

In July, 1799, Bonaparte received from the British naval 
commander, under flag of truce, copies of European news- 627. Situa- 
papers which gave alarming news. The government of prance 
the Directory was in great difficulties. The radical repub- (i 798-1 799) 
licans regarded it as "only a disguised royalty, composed of five 



ABOUKIR B'.A Y 



Battle of the Nile 



520^ THE RISE OF NAPOLEON BONAPARTE 

tyrants"; while a reactionary party hoped for a restoration of 
the Bourbon monarchy. The Directors had not hesitated to 
arrest illegally their leading opponents, and to force out col- 
leagues (including Carnot) who disapproved of these proceed- 
ings. To arbitrary rule at home the Directory had added folly 
and unscrupulous dealings abroad. At Rome and at Naples 
republics of the French type had been set up. The Swiss Con- 
federation had been remodeled in the interests of France.^ 
Even the United States, by the insulting demands of the French 
• authorities for money, through three agents called X, Y, and Z, 
had been goaded for a brief period into a naval war (i 798-1 799). 
Resentment at these acts, and the prestige of Nelson's victory, 
had enabled Great Britain, in 1799, to form the Second Coalition, 
in which Austria, Russia, Naples, Portugal, and Turkey joined. 
By the middle of 1799 Italy was lost, the French had suffered 
defeats on the Rhine, and France was full of divisions and 
despair. 

News of these events determined Bonaparte to abandon the 
army in Egypt, to brave the dangers of capture on the way, and 
to return secretly and with but a small following to France.^ 

C. Bonaparte as First Consul (i 799-1804) 

Landing on the Mediterranean coast, Bonaparte found the 

republic already saved from invasion by its own exertions. 

628, Return His reception was enthusiastic in the highest degree. Even 

of Bona- before the expedition to Egypt, his soaring ambition 

Egypt ^° "^^^ aroused. " Do you suppose," he is reported to have 

(1799) said, " that I have gained my victories in Italy in order to 

advance the lawyers of the Directory? Do you think either 

that my object is to establish a republic ? What a notion ! 

1 Switzerland was organized as the Helvetic Republic, under a constitution sim- 
ilar to that of the Directorate in France. It was bound in close alliance with France, 
and its Directors were practically named from Paris. The number of the cantons 
was increased from thirteen to nineteen, by the inclusion of new territory. 

2 The troops which Bonaparte left in Egypt surrendered to the British in 1801. 



BONAPARTE AS FIRST CONSUL 52 1 

A republic of thirty millions of people, with our morals 
and vices ! How could that ever be ? It is a chimera Memoirs of 
with which the French are infatuated, but which will ^"° ^® . 

' Melito, in 

pass away in time like all the others. What they want University 

is glory and the satisfaction of their vanity. As for °^ Pennsyl- 
" •' . ^ vania Trans- 

liberty, of that they have no conception. The nation lations, 11, 
must have a head which is rendered illustrious by glory." ^°- ^ 
With these views, Bonaparte joined some discontented 
politicians in a successful plot to overthrow the government of 
the Directors. The people acquiesced in the change, and 629. The 
a new constitution (that of the Consulate) was prepared forme/ ^ 
practically at the dictation of Bonaparte. His resolute (1799) 
ambition overrode the plans of his colleagues, and made the 
new government an almost unlimited dictatorship. 

1. The executive power, nominally confided to a board of three Con- 

suls chosen for ten years, really rested in Bonaparte alone, with 
the title of First Consul. 

2. The legislative power was vested in two houses (the Tribunate 

and the Legislative Chamber) entirely subordinate to the executive. 
New laws were to be "proposed by the government, communi- 
cated to the Tribunate and decreed by the Legislative Chamber." 
There was also a Senate, appointed for life, with little to do. 

3. Manhood suffrage was nominally restored, but the voters had 

little real control over the government. 

This new constitution, when submitted to the people, was 
accepted by a vote of 3,000,000 against 1500. The vote shows 
that, so far as the constitution was really understood, the masses 
of the people preferred order under a military dictator to the 
inefficiency and corruption of the Directory. 

After setting up the new government, Bonaparte's first care 
was the war against the Second Coalition. To surprise the 
Austrians, he led an army over the Alps into Italy by the 630. Peace 
difficult route of the Great St. Bernard Pass (1800). At of Luneville 
Maren'go he crushingly defeated the enemy in a hard- Amiens 
fought battle. In Germany, also, the French were vie- (i8oi-i8o2)n 
torious. In February, 1801, the Emperor Francis II concluded 



522 THE RISE OF NAPOLEON BONAPARTE 

a peace at Luneville (lii-na-vel'), which confirmed the cessions 
made at Campo Formio. The extension of France to the 
Rhine was again recognized, and her power in Italy restored. 

Great Britain was thus left a second time to continue the war 
alone. Seeing that the Jacobin democracy was now curbed, 
the British ministry also signed a treaty, — the peace of Amiens 
(March, 1802). By its terms all British conquests made since 
the beginning of the war (with the exception of the islands of 
Trinidad and Ceylon) were restored to their former owners. 
Malta, which had been taken from the French in 1800, was to 
be given back to the Knights of St. John. 

In the interval of peace which followed, Bonaparte showed 

that he could be as great an administrator as he was a general. 

631. Bona- He mastered the details of business with almost super- 

parte's re- human energy and intelligence. A sound currency was 

construe- 

tion of established, the Bank of France created, roads and canals 

France improved, agriculture and industry fostered. His legis- 

lation and the return of order did wonders in restoring pros- 
perity to France. Four of his measures deserve particular 
notice : — 

(i) Local government under the revolution (except for a 
brief interval) was despotically administered from Paris, as it 
had been under the Old Regime. Bonaparte simplified and 
strengthened the machinery for this purpose by a system (still 
in use) of departmental prefects and subprefects, appointed by 
the central authority. 

(2) Although personally without religious convictions, Bona- 
parte saw advantages in a reestablishment of the Catholic 
Church, and an alliance with the papacy. A Concordat was 
accordingly entered into between France and the papacy in 
1801. By its terms Bonaparte restored the Catholic religion, 
though he retained the nomination of bishops and archbishops 
by the government. The Pope on his part abandoned all claims 
to the confiscated church estates, on condition that the clergy 
should be paid by the state (§ 590). The Concordat did not 
abolish religious toleration, and provision was soon made by 



BONAPARTE AS FIRST CONSUL 



523 



which the state paid Protestant ministers and Jewish rabbis 
also. This Concordat remained in force until 1905. 

(3) All titles of nobility had been swept away in 1790. Bona- 
parte said of the French : "They are what the Gauls were, fierce 
and fickle. They have one feeling — 
honor. We must nourish that feeling ; 
they must have distinctions." Hence, 
in 1802, he formed the Legion of Honor, 
to be composed of soldiers and civilians 
who had greatly served the state.^ 

(4) Most important of all were his 
measures for the reform of the law. 
The "inextricable labyrinth of laws and 
customs, mainly Roman and 632. Code 
Prankish in origin, hopelessly ^^pof^o'i 
tangled by feudal customs, pro- j^^g^^ ^^^^. 
vincial privileges, ecclesiastical leon, I, 265 
rights, and the later undergrowth of 
royal decrees," which formed the law 
of the Old Regime, had been swept 
away by the revolution. Bonaparte, 
with the aid of a committee of learned 
jurists, now completed the construction of a system of 
rational law to take its place. "In matters of inheritance, 
in the rules which govern the family relations, and in the 
law of marriage, the Customs of France find their place. In 
the law of contract, the law of property, the rules of judi- woodrow 
cial trial, and all questions of the legal burdens which Wilson, The 
may be placed upon land, Roman law has had a chief '^ ^' ^'^^ 
place of influence." This Code Napoleon was issued in 1804, 
and was soon adopted by Italy and Holland. It exerted great 
influence also on the legislation of Germany, Switzerland, Spain, 
and the South American states. Nowhere does Bonaparte 
appear to better advantage than in the part that he played in 

1 When he became Emperor, Napoleon also created a new nobility composed of 
the officers of the court and the generals of his army. 




Cross of the Legion of 
Honor 



524 



THE RISE OF NAPOLEON BONAPARTE 



directing and shaping the proceedings of the committee which 
formed this code. "My true glory," said he after his down- 
fall, "is not that I have gained forty battles. Waterloo will 
efface the memory of those victories. But that which nothing 
can efface, which will live forever, is my civil code." 



D. The Empire Established (1804) 

Not content with the large powers given him under the Con- 
sulate, Bonaparte skillfully set about making his rule perma- 
6^3. Steps nent and hereditary. A plot against his life, in 1800, gave 
to founding him the opportunity to crush the extreme republicans. 
empire j^ ^g^^ -j^q ^^s made Consul for life. Thenceforth he 
signed himself ''Napo- 
leon," using his first 
name only, like other 
sovereigns. In 1804, 
when war again broke 
out, a royalist plot 
was made the excuse 
for seizing (on neutral 
soil and by Napo- 
leon's express orders) 
a young Bourbon 
prince, the duke of 
Enghien (aN-gaN')- 
He was tried by court- 
martial, without any 
real evidence of guilt, 
and was shot. This 
deed, which excited 
the horror of moder- 
ate men, won the rem- 
nant of the Jacobins 
to Napoleon. It made it impossible for him ever to come to 
terms with the Bourbons. 




Throne of Napoleon 
Throne room, Fontainebleau 



THE EMPIRE ESTABLISHED 525 

With the. press gagged, the legislators corrupted, the generals 
bound to him by grants of honors and rewards, and the people 
inflamed against England, it was easy to obtain, in 1804, 634. The 
the title of Emperor of the French, with hereditary sue- f^^ded 
cession. The change was sanctioned by a popular vote (1804) 
of 3,500,000 to 2500. The coronation was carried out with 
imposing ceremonies, the Pope giving to it the sanction of re- 
ligion by coming from Rome to anoint the new Emperor with oil. 
Napoleon would not, however, allow the Pope to crown him. 
He placed the crown upon his head with his own hands, thus 
guarding against any claim that he received it from a superior 
power. Hitherto the imperial title, which since the fall of 
Constantinople had been limited to the Emperor of the Holy 
Roman Empire, had possessed a peculiar significance. Bryce, Holy 
"There was and could be but one Emperor; he was al- J^V^ ^' 
ways mentioned with a certain reverence ; his name called vised), 538 
up a host of thoughts and associations which moderns do not 
comprehend or sympathize with." Napoleon's assumption of 
the name Emperor brought about a cheapening of that title, 
until now it has little special signification beyond that of king. 
With amazing rapidity Bonaparte had risen to the proudest 
position in Europe. It remained to be seen whether this would 
satisfy him, or whether through rash ambition he would hazard 
all in an effort to secure universal dominion. 



IMPORTANT DATES 

1796. First Italian Campaign of Napoleon Bonaparte. 

1798. Expedition to Egypt. 

1799. The Consulate formed. 

1802. Peace of Amiens with Great Britain. 
1804. Napoleon Bonaparte becomes Emperor. 

TOPICS AND REFERENCES 

Suggestive Topics. — (i) To what qualities did Bonaparte owe his ad- 
vancement? (2) To what was due the success of his first Italian campaign ? 
(3) What exactions mentioned in his proclamation of 1797 should we 



526 THE RISE OF NAPOLEON BONAPARTE 

regard as unjustifiable? (4) Was Bonaparte's conduct toward Venice 
justifiable or not ? (5) What did France gain by the Peace of Campo Formio ? 
(6) Why were the British so successful at sea in the time of the French 
Revolution? (7) Was Bonaparte's expedition to Egypt wise or unwise? 
(8) Was the overthrow of the Directors justifiable? Why? (9) Was 
the government during the Consulate a republic or a monarchy? (10) Of 
what value was the right to vote when the powers of the elected legislators 
were so restricted? (11) Why did Napoleon assume the title of Emperor? 
(12) Show on a map the annexations of territory to France made between 
1789 and 1802. (13) ^Vhat qualities made Bonaparte a great ruler in 
peace? (14) Why were the Consulate and Empire accepted by such large 
popular majorities? 

Search Topics. — (i) Bonaparte's Early Life. Rose, Napoleon, I, 
ch. i ; Fournier, Napoleon, chs. i-ii ; Sloane, Napoleon Bonaparte, I, chs. iii, v ; 
Robinson and Beard, Readings, I, 309-312. — (2) Bonaparte at Toulon. 
Johnston, Napoleon, 14-16; Rose, Napoleon, I, ch. iii. — (3) His Suppres- 
sion of the Revolt of 1795. Johnston, Napoleon, 17-19; Rose, Na- 
poleon, I, ch. iv. — (4) Methods of Warfare During the Revolution. 
Johnston, Napoleon, 20-25. — (5) Bonaparte's First Italian Campaign. 
Johnston, Napoleon, ch. iii; Ropes, The First Napoleon, 12-28; Fournier, 
Napoleon, ch. iv ; Sloane, I, chs. xxv-xxvi. — (6) Reasons for the Expe- 
dition TO Egypt. Johnston, Napoleon, 47-50; Rose, Napoleon, I, 159-167; 
Sloane, ch. v. — (7) Overthrow of the Directory. Johnston, Napoleon, 
59-78; Fyffe, Modern Europe (Popular ed.), 135-144; Rose, Napoleon, 
I, ch. x ; Sloane, II, chs. x-xi. — (8) Bonaparte's Work as Legislator and 
Administrator. Johnston, Napoleon, 88-101 ; Rose, Napoleon, I, ch. xii ; 
Cambridge Modern History, IX, 148-164. — (9) Josephine. Encyclopedia 
Britannica (nth ed.), XV, 516; Sloane, Napoleon Bonaparte (revised ed.), 
I, 452-455; II, 342-346; III, 179-181, 245-247. — (10) How the United 
States secured Loxhsiana. Channing, Student's History of the United 
States, 337-340; Turner, in Atlantic Monthly, May-June, 1904; Morse, 
Thomas Jeferson, ch. xiv; Henry Adams, United States under Jeferson 
and Madison, II, ch. ii. — (11) Napoleon becomes Emperor. Rose, 
Napoleon, I, ch. xx; Fournier, Napoleon, I, ch. ix (last part). — (12) His 
Behavior in Society. Madame de Remusat, Memoirs, 77, 171, 210, 223, 

493, 549- 

General Reading. — The lives of Napoleon Bonaparte by Seeley and 
Johnston are the best short accounts. Those by Rose and Fournier are 
next in length and are of great excellence. Sloane's Life of Napoleon Bon- 
aparte (4 vols.) is issued both in a magnificently illustrated edition and in a 
cheaper reprint; it is a standard work. J. S. C. Abbot's Life of Napoleon 
is so uncritical as to be valueless. 



CHAPTER XXVII 

THE NAPOLEONIC EMPIRE (1804-1815) 

A. Ulm, Austerlitz, and Jena (1803-1807) 

Peace with Great Britain lasted less than fourteen months. 
Its rupture was due to Napoleon's growing impatience of oppo- 
sition and to his great ambition. In the time that the g „ Causes 
peace lasted, he became president of the Italian (formerly of war 
Cisalpine) Republic ; intervened in Switzerland ; annexed ^^ °^^ 
Piedmont, Parma, and the isle of Elba to France; planned a 
partition of Turkey; and projected a colonial empire which 
should embrace America (where he had just acquired the prov- 
ince of Louisiana from Spain), Egypt, India, and the new 
island continent of Australia. "The safety of our East -^^^^ ^ 
Indian possessions was actually at stake," says a recent pokon, 1, 
English writer, "and yet Europe was asked to believe that ^ ^ 
the question was whether England would or would not evacuate 
Malta." The United States gained Louisiana through the re- 
newal of hostilities; for Napoleon, rightly judging that the 
defense of that province was impossible for France, sold the 
whole vast territory to the envoys of President Jefferson (April 
30, 1803). 

. To invade England, Napoleon established a naval camp at 
Boulogne (boo-lon'), and made ready to take advantage of any 
event which should give him even momentary control , g b tti 
of the Channel. "Eight hours of favoring darkness," of Trafalgar 
said he, "would decide the fate of the universe." But the *^^^°s) 
British power at sea could not be shaken. The last possibility 
of invasion disappeared in October, 1805, with the destruction 
of the combined French and Spanish fleets off Cape Trafalgar. 
This was Nelson's greatest victory, but it was won at the cost 

527 



528 



THE NAPOLEONIC EMPIRE 



V *^ 



^'P/A 



'S// 



nEET 



>E A N 



of his life. His last 

signal was : "England 

expects every man to 

do his duty." 

In 1805 the Third 

Coalition was formed, 

in which Russia, 

Austria, and Sweden 

joined Great Britain 

against France. The 

637. The reentrance of Austria into the war led Napoleon to break 
Austerlitz 



A T L A N T I C yt. 




i C.TraH^' 



Battle of Trataigar 



campaign 

(1805) 



up his camp at Boulogne and march to the upper Danube. 
By rapid and skillful maneuvers he took Ulm, together 
with an Austrian army of 30,000 men (October, 1805). "Our 
Emperor," said the French, "has found a new way of making 
war. He no longer makes it with our arms, but with our 
legs." 

The road was now open to Vienna, and for the first time in 
modern history the Austrian capital fell into the hands of an 
enemy. In the face of a superior force, in the midst of a hostile 
population, and with his line of communications threatened by 
the vacillating king of Prussia, Napoleon's position was for a. 
time dangerous. But in the battle of Austerlitz (December 2, 
1805) the Austrians and Russians were entrapped and com- 
pletely defeated. The treaty of Pressburg was then signed by 
Francis II. Its chief provision was the return to Napoleon of 
the Venetian territories which Austria had received in 1797. 

Against Russia and Great Britain the war continued. Prus- 
sia, which since the treaty of Basel (1795) had maintained 
638. Con- an inglorious neutrality, was forced by Napoleon's 
Prussia double-dealing to declare war. But the weak and vacil- 

(1806-1807) lating Prussian king (Frederick William HI) had few of 
the qualities of Frederick the Great. In the neighborhood of 
Jena (ya'na) Napoleon crushed the Prussians (October 14, 1806). 
Berlin was speedily taken, and the Prussian king was forced to 
flee eastward. 



ULM, AUSTERLITZ, AND JENA 



529 



Napoleon followed after, — 
thaws, over roads where men 




Vendome Column (at Paris) 

The bronze bas-reliefs (from melted Rus- 
sian and Austrian cannon) illustrate 
the campaign of 1805. 

were formed into a duchy of 
the king of Saxony. 



amid snow and rain, frosts and 
sank to their knees, horses to 
their bodies, and carriages be- 
yond the axles. In February, 
1807, the Russians tried to sur- 
prise the French in their winter 
quarters. The result, at Eylau 
(I'lou), was the bloodiest and 
most desperate battle of a cen- 
tury, without decisive results. 
In June the Russians were thor- 
oughly defeated at Friedland 
(fret'lant). After this reverse 
the Tsar (Alexander I) decided 
to make peace. 

The outlines of the treaty 
were sketched at an interview 
which took place between Alex- 
ander and Napoleon at Tilsit 
(July 7, 1807) on a raft moored 
in the river Niemen, mid- ^^^ p^^^^ 
way between the two ar- of Tilsit 
mies. Alexander aban- ^^ °'^^ 
doned the British alliance, and 
by a secret article agreed to join 
France in war against Great 
Britain in case that country re- 
fused to make peace. More 
crushing terms were exacted of 
Prussia. Her recent annexa- 
tions Were taken from her, as 
well as her territories west of 
the Elbe. Her Polish provinces 
(together with those of Austria) 
Warsaw, under Napoleon's ally. 



530 



THE NAPOLEONIC EMPIRE 



B. Reconstruction of Europe by Napoleon 

The peace of Tilsit recognized other changes which constituted 

a reconstruction of Europe. For some time Napoleon had been 

640. Recon- building up about France a circle of vassal kingdoms in 

Euro^e''^ °^ the hands of his relatives and dependents. Thus, in 1805, 

(180S-1807J he exchanged his presidency of the Italian Republic — 

enlarged by the addition of Venice (taken from Austria) — for 

the title of king of Italy. His stepson, Eugene, was made viceroy 

of the new kingdom. 
In 1806 Napoleon over- 
turned the Batavian 
Republic, and estab- 
lished his brother, 
Louis Bonaparte, as 
king of Holland. Later 
in the same year Napo- 
leon drove the Bourbon 
king of Naples ^ from 
the peninsula, and gave 
the crown to his 
brother, Joseph Bona- 
parte. A new kingdom 
of Westphalia was 
formed east of the 
Rhine, and conferred 
upon Napoleon's 
youngest brother, Je- 
rome (1807). In addi- 
tion to these Bonapart- 
ist kingdoms. Napoleon 
raised his dependents, the dukes of Bavaria and Wiirttemberg, 
to the rank of king. 

iln 1738 Austria had ceded Naples and Sicily to a younger branch of 
the Spanish Bourbon house, receiving in exchange certain territories in northern 
Italy. 




Napoleon as Emperor 
From the painting by Delaroche 



RECONSTRUCTION OF EUROPE BY NAPOLEON 531 

In this period, also, there was carried out a territorial consoli- 
dation of Germany, which is one of the most important political 
results of the Napoleonic era. Since the Thirty Years' g j^ Reor- 
War, Germany had been a horde of separate states, large ganization 
and small, lay and ecclesiastical, (i) In the front rank ° ermany 
stood the two great states, Austria and Prussia. Neither of these 
was purely German, for more than half the territory of each was 
inhabited by non-German (Slavic or Magyar) peoples. (2) The 
second rank was composed of about thirty middling states, in- 
cluding Bavaria, Wiirttemberg, Saxony, and Baden (ba'den). 
(3) In the third rank were about two hundred and fifty petty states, 
many of them ruled by a bishop or abbot. Here we may place 
also the fifty "free cities" of the empire. At least one third of 
the states in this group were less than twelve square miles in 
area. (4) Below these were about fifteen hundred "knights 
of the empire," whose territories averaged less than three square 
miles each. Most of these states, great and small, were absolute 
monarchies. Each made its own laws, had its own court, its 
own army, and often its own coinage. 

Napoleon had begun his reorganization of Germany in the 
peace of Campo Formio (§ 623), when he first advanced the 
boundary of France to the river Rhine. A large number of Ger- 
man rulers west of the Rhine were by this treaty dispossessed 
of the whole or part of their territories. It was subsequently 
agreed that the hereditary rulers (but not the ecclesiastical 
princes) should be compensated for their losses by cessions of 
lands in other parts of Germany. One hundred and twelve 
sovereign and independent states to the east of the Rhine were 
thus wiped out, by being annexed to the larger hereditary 
states such as Prussia, Bavaria, etc.^ At the same time the 
larger states were encouraged to absorb the territories of the 
knights, towns, and petty principalities within their borders. 
In this way the eighteen hundred or more German states were re- 

1 Incidentally the suppression of the ecclesiastical states gave a Protestant major- 
ity in the German Diet, when it was restored in 1815, and so strengthened German 
Protestantism. 



532 IKE NAPOLEONIC EMPIRE 

duced to about fifty. This consolidation survived Napoleon's 
downfall, and helped enormously to produce the later union of 
Germany into the present German Empire (§ 777). 

Practically all of Germany, except Austria and Prussia, was 
at the same time (1806) organized into a "Confederation of the 

642. Holy Rhine," with Napoleon as its officially recognized "Pro- 
Roman tector." These sweeping changes extinguished the last 
solved spark of vitality in the old German Empire. To meet the 
(1806) new situation, Francis II proclaimed himself hereditary 

Emperor of Austria under the name of Francis I. Then, in 
1806, he abdicated the throne of the Holy Roman Empire, and 
dissolved that empire, which had existed since the days of 
Charlemagne and Otto I (§§ 28, 104). 

Great Britain, protected by the sea and her victorious navy, 
still defied Napoleon. To reach that country. Napoleon es- 

643. The tablished a tariff policy, which is called the "Continental 
ontinental gygj^gj^" j^g object was to close Europe to England's 

(1806) commerce, and thereby force that "nation of shopkeepers," 

as he contemptuously called it, to sue for peace. The founda- 
tion of the " Continental System " was laid in the famous "Berlin 
decree," issued from the Prussian capital soon after the battle 
of Jena. Though Napoleon had scarcely a war vessel at sea, 
the whole of the British Isles was declared in a state of blockade. 
Commerce and correspondence with the British were forbidden ; 
and British subjects and British products, when found in lands 
under French influence, were to be seized. The decree was 
nominally in retaliation for a British blockade of the conti- 
nental coast from Brest to the Elbe River. Its effect was to 
Mahan In- ^^^^ forth from the British yet more stringent measures. 
jiuence of Sea These, in turn, were answered by Napoleon's "Milan 
French Rev ^ decree " of December, 1807, which declared that all neutral 
oiution, II, vessels obeying the British orders were liable to seizure as 
^^ prizes. "The imperial soldiers were turned into coast- 

guardsmen to shut out Great Britain from continental markets ; 
the British ships became revenue cutters to prohibit the trade 
of France/' Neutral commerce, then chiefly carried on in 



RECONSTRUCTION OF EUROPE BY NAPOLEON 533 

American vessels, suffered severely from this double system of 
unjust restrictions. 

The chief features of Napoleon's policy now became the ex- 
tension and maintenance of his "Continental System." Prussia 
was forced to close her ports to Great Britain. Russia ^^^ p^j.. 
adopted the system along with the French alliance. To cible ex- 
prevent the seizure of the neutral Danish fleet by Napoleon, theTon- 
the British bombarded Copenhagen and themselves seized tinental 
the fleet (September, 1807) ; whereupon Denmark went ^y^*®™ 
over to France. Portugal was ordered by Napoleon, on penalty 
of war, to close her ports against ships of Great Britain. The 
demand was refused. Upon the approach of a French army, 
the royal family of Portugal fled on board ship, and sailed to 
the Portuguese province of Brazil (1807). 

Napoleon's next step was to seize the kingdom of Spain. 
Taking advantage of a quarrel between the Spanish king and 
the crown prince. Napoleon forced both to abdicate. He then 
transferred his brother Joseph from the Neapolitan to the Span- 
ish throne. Naples was given to Napoleon's most daring cav- 
alry general, Murat (mii-ra'), who had married Napoleon's 
sister (1808). Tuscany was annexed to France. Then Rome 
was seized, and the Pope imprisoned, because he refused to join 
the French alliance and exclude English merchandise (1809). 
Sweden, after being robbed of Finland by Russia, for a time 
entered the "Continental System"; and in 18 10 the Swedes 
chose as crown prince and heir to the throne one of Napoleon's 
ablest marshals, Bernadotte (ber-na-dot')- At one time or 
another every state of Continental Europe, excepting Turkey, 
was forced into Napoleon's commercial system. 

Even thus Napoleon found it impossible to exclude English 
goods from the Continent. The French government itself 
set the example of violating the "Continental System." 645. Eva- 
The coffee, sugar, and tea for Napoleon's table came from continental 
English sources ; and when fifty thousand overcoats were System 
ordered for the army in 1807, they could be obtained only from 
the hated British. Smuggling was widespread, and the com- 



534 THE NAPOLEONIC EMPIRE 

merce of Great Britain actually prospered in this period. The 
"Continental System" was foredoomed to failure; and the 
tenacity with which Napoleon clung to it, and the tyranny with 
which he enforced it, were the chief causes of his downfall. 

C. The Peninsular War and the Russian Campaign 

The rising of Europe against Napoleon's tyranny began in 
Spain, in 1808; and the British government sent troops to aid 

646. The in this "Peninsular War" (1808-1814). Napoleon in 
War (1808- person restored his brother to Madrid ; but a new war 
1812) with Austria (1809) soon called him away. The French 

in Spain were operating in a hostile country, and their generals 
in Napoleon's absence failed to support one another. "In war, 
men are nothing; it is a man who is everything," said Na- 
poleon, in stinging rebuke of their ill success. The British 
were fortunate in having in command Sir Arthur Wellesley, 
later created duke of Wellington. By 181 1 the French were 
driven from Portugal; in 181 2, the south of Spain was recov- 
ered; in 1813-1814, the north was freed. The French were 
driven across the Pyrenees, and the British followed after them. 
These successes in Spain would have been impossible, save 
for troubles caused by the "Continental System" elsewhere. 

647. New In 1809 Austria took heart, from the difficulties in which 
Austria Napoleon was involved in Spain, to declare war once more. 
(1809) The contest, however, was brief and decisive. Vienna 

was again taken ; Napoleon won the bloody battle of Wagram 
(va'gram; July, 1809); and Austria again made peace.^ 

The fervor of the Tsar's admiration for Napoleon, after the 
interview at Tilsit, had gradually cooled. The "Continental 

648. Alex- System" weighed heavily upon Russia, which depended 
Napdeon mainly upon England for a market. Napoleon's friendly 
(1807-1812) attitude toward the Poles also caused anxiety to Alexander. 

Personal affronts, moreover, were not lacking. To secure a son 

1 Treaties follow one another so rapidly and are of such short duration in the 
Napoleonic period that the terms of only the most important can be given. 



PENINSULAR WAR AND THE RUSSIAN CAMPAIGN 535 

to whom his crown might descend, Napoleon (in December, 
1809) divorced his wife Josephine, and requested a bride from 
the Russian royal family. But before the answer (which was a 
refusal) could be received. Napoleon arranged to marry Maria 
Louisa, the eighteen-year-old daughter of the Austrian Emperor. 




I French Empire 
\ States dependent on Napoleon 
^States allied -with Napoleon 
] States independent of Napoleon 



6 100 200 300 400 sio 



Europe at the Height op Napoleon's Power (1812) 



On both sides the irritation grew, until it resulted, in 181 2, in 
open war. On the one side was Napoleon, master of France 
and lord of seven vassal kingdoms and thirty dependent 649. Inva- 
principalities. On the other was the Tsar Alexander, R°ssi*a 
allied with Sweden and Great Britain. To invade Russia, (1812) 
Napoleon mustered an army of nearly half a million men, drawn 
from "twenty nations," — the French constituting about one 
third of the whole. The passage across the river Niemen, with 
which the invasion began (in June, 181 2), took three days. The 
Russians systematically refused battle and retreated. They 
thus drew the French farther and farther into the heart of a 
hostile country, where transportation and supply were increas- 



536 



THE NAPOLEONIC EMPIRE 



ingly difficult. At Smolensk' (about two thirds of the way to 
Moscow) the Russians made a stand. After desperate fighting 
the French were successful, but they were unable to prevent 
the continuance of the Russian retreat. At Borodino (bo-ro- 
de'no), seventy-five miles from Moscow, the Russians again 




Napoleon's Russian Campaign 



fought a determined battle. Though they were defeated, the 
Russians were not crushed, and retreated in good order. 

One week later (September 14) the French entered Moscow, — 
with its ''forty times forty churches," — only to find it prac- 
tically deserted. The next day fire broke out, probably kindled 
by the Russians. For three days the flames raged, and were 
stayed only when nine tenths of the city was in ashes. The 
situation in which Napoleon found himself was grave in the 
extreme. To winter in the ruined city was impossible ; yet for 
five weeks he Hngered, hoping that Alexander might yet come 
to terms and the campaign be saved from failure. But it was 
in vain. "I have learned to know him now," said the Tsar. 
" Napoleon or I ; I or Napoleon : we cannot reign side by side." 
Napoleon at last began his retreat from Moscow (October 
19,- 181 2). A southerly route, which he attempted, was blocked 
g Retreat ^^^ ^^ troops were obliged to retreat by the devastated 
from Mos- route of their advance. The Russians wisely refrained 
cow (1812) ^^^^ ^Yie hazard of a pitched battle. Instead they hung 
upon the rear and flanks of the retreating forces, and cut off 
stragglers. Marshal Ney (na), who covered the French retreat, 
here won his title "the bravest of the brave." 



DOWNFALL OF NAPOLEON 537 

Zero weather came on, and at every camp the morning showed 
stark and lifeless forms about the scanty fires. Horses died by 
hundreds ; guns and wagons had to be abandoned, and provi- 
sions ran short ; discipline was almost destroyed. At a little 
river (the Beresina) the passage was blocked by a sudden thaw. 
Heroic French engineers worked for hours in the icy waters, and 
constructed at the cost of their own lives rude trestle bridges 
which saved the army from utter destruction. A few days later 
Napoleon left the troops and hurried on to Paris. In the middle 
of December the shattered remnant of the main army, less than 
20,000 in number, staggered across the Russian frontier. Of the 
mighty force that had set out in June, 130,000 were left in Rus- 
sian prisons, 50,000 had deserted, 250,000 had perished, — of 
cold, hunger, disease, and the casualties of war. 

D. Downfall of Napoleon 

The overwhelming disaster of the Russian campaign, together 
with the steady progress of the British in the Peninsular War, 
encouraged the oppressed states of Germany to rise against 651. Revi- 
Napoleon's tyranny. In this movement Prussia took the p^uggia 
lead. Able and patriotic men — of whom the chief was (i 807-1 81 3) 
Baron Stein — had labored to adapt to Prussian needs the social 
reforms of the French Revolution and Napoleon's military 
system. Serfdom had been abolished, the privileges of the 
nobility done away with, and a system of election to municipal 
offices introduced. Universal liability to military service took 
the place of hired service, so that within a few years a large pro- 
portion of the Prussian youth received military training. Prus- 
sia, in place of Austria, now came to be regarded as the natural 
head of Germany. Poets and philosophers did valuable service 
in fanning the flame of German patriotism. 

The Prussian general Yorck now, on his own responsibility, 
abandoned the French forces and made terms with the invading 
Russians (1813). "The army wants war with France," he 
wrote, "the people want it, and so does the king. But the king's 



538 THE NAPOLEONIC EMPIRE 

will is not free. The army must make his will free." Borne 

along by the national enthusiasm, Frederick William declared 

652. Rising ^^^' ^^^ issued a stirring call to his people. "It is the 

of Germany last decisive fight," said he, "which we must make for 

^^ ^^^ our existence, our independence, our well-being. There is 

no other issue except to an honorable peace or a glorious 

downfall." 

Napoleon showed astonishing energy in raising and equipping 
a new army from exhausted France. By the end of April, 1813, 
6s3. Battle ^^ ^^^ back in Germany, and Saxony became the battle- 
of Leipzig field of the contending forces. In the first half of this 
^^ ^^^ campaign the French Emperor displayed his usual supe- 

riority. But in August Austria joined the allies, and the tide 
turned. At Dresden, Napoleon again won a great victory. On 
the other hand, his lieutenants in other parts of the field lost 
five battles within a fortnight. Amid autumn rains and fogs, 
the struggle shifted to Leipzig. There, in a great three days' 
battle, the French were outnumbered, outgeneraled, and out- 
fought, — and were overwhelmingly defeated (October, 1813). 
The battle of Leipzig marks the end of French rule in Ger- 
many. All central Europe, forgetful of the benefits of French 
administration, rose in revolt. With the British and Spaniards 
about to cross the Pyrenees, and the Russians, Prussians, and 
Austrians massing their forces for the passage of the Rhine, it 
was no longer a question of Napoleon's ' advancing to world 
empire. Thenceforth it was a question of saving the Rhine 
frontier won by the revolutionary wars, and even of maintaining 
Napoleon's hold on France itself. 

Even after the invasion of France had begun, the allies would 

gladly have signed a peace which should leave to Napoleon the 

654. Abdi- throne and the French frontiers of 1792, provided that he 

Nano^eon renounced all claims to interfere in the affairs of Europe 

(1814) outside those Hmits. But the spirit of the gambler was 

strong in Napoleon. He would have all or nothing, and these 

terms were refused. 

/ In the campaign of 18 14, Napoleon in vain displayed his old 



DOWNFALL OF NAPOLEON 



539 



genius and audacity. Slowly but surely the allies closed in 
upon Paris. The populace of the capital showed ominous signs 
of discontent with Napoleon's rule, and partisans of the exiled 
Bourbons raised their heads. On the last day of March, 1814, 
the allies entered the city. Napoleon wished still to continue 
the conflict, but his generals refused to obey. BafHed at every 
turn, he was forced (on April 11) to sign an unconditional ab- 
dication. He was allowed to retain the title of Emperor and 
was assigned in full sovereignty the little island of Elba, with 
an annual subsidy of two million francs. 

The wily French diplomat Talleyrand induced the French Sen- 
ate (the most important political body under the empire) and 
the allies to favor the restora- 
tion of the Bourbons to the 
throne of France. The dauphin 
Louis, son of Louis XVI, had 
died in prison in 1795, as the re- 
sult of shocking ill-treatment. 
Louis XVI's brother was there- 
fore the heir, and was pro- 
claimed king as Louis XVIII. 
The Pope now returned to 
Rome, and the dispossessed 
Bourbon king of Spain to his 
capital. To settle further terri- 
torial questions — particularly 
in Germany and Poland, con- 
cerning which there was much 
dispute — a congress of Euro- 
pean powers met at Vienna, in the late fall of 1814. 

For Napoleon to remain quietly in Elba, however, was im- 
possible. Eluding the guardships placed about the island, he 
landed in southern France on March i, 1815, with a force 655. Napo- 
of eleven hundred men. "I shall reach Paris," he pre- tujnf^o®" 
dieted, "without firing a shot." Avoiding the Rhone Elba (1815) 
valley, where the royalists were in control, he passed through the 




Talleyrand 
From a painting in Versailles 



540 



THE NAPOLEONIC EMPIRE 



656. Battle 
of Waterloo 
(June 18, 
181 5) 



mountains of Dauphine to Lyons. The troops sent against him 
deserted to his standard. Marshal Ney, who left Paris boast- 
ing that he would bring back his former master "in an iron cage," 
himself declared for Napoleon. The peasants and poorer classes 
hailed Napoleon's arrival with joy ; but the wealthy townsmen 
dreaded a restoration which meant renewed war. Within three 
weeks after Napoleon's landing, Louis XVIII was again an 
exile. The French Emperor was restored to his capital, and 
there began the "Hundred Days" of his second reign. 

The news of Napoleon's return ended for a time the dissensions 
which had broken out among the allies at Vienna. Declaring 
him "an enemy and disturber of the peace of the world," they 
prepared to take the field anew. Napoleon found himself far 
stronger than in 1814, through the return of prisoners of war 
and of troops formerly on garrison duty in Germany. Follow^ 
ing his favorite practice, he resolved to strike before his enemies 
were ready. On June 14, he crossed the northern frontier. 

In Belgium there was a British army under Wellington and a 
Prussian army under Blucher (blii'Ker). Napoleon's rapid 
movements practi- 



cally surprised these 
veteran commanders. 
By defeating Blucher at 
Ligny (len-ye'), on June 16, 
Napoleon broke their con- 
nection and rendered pos- 
sible, as he hoped, the 
separate overthrow of Wel- 
lington. But Blucher, in- 
stead of retreating east- 
ward, turned northward, so 
as again to come in touch 
with the British forces. 

Relying on Bllicher's as- 
sistance, Wellington turned 
at bay on the ridge of 




Movements leading to Waterloo 



DOWNFALL OF NAPOLEON 54 1 

Waterloo'. There he was attacked by the French on the 
morning of June 18. For ten hours the battle raged, Napo- 
leon repeatedly hurling his columns of cavalry against the bay- 
onet-wielding squares of the stubborn British infantry. Never 
did Wellington better deserve the name of "the Iron Duke" 
than while anxiously scanning the horizon for signs of the prom- 
ised Prussian aid. The roads were soft and bad from torrents 
of rain, and it was not until late in the afternoon that Bliicher 
arrived. The French, attacked on the right flank and in front, 
were gradually overborne, and about nine in the evening their 
defeat became a rout. Seven times their flying forces halted 
for the night, but each time they were driven onward. An 
eyewitness reports that at Waterloo, the next morning, ''the 
whole field, from right to left, was a mass of dead bodies." 

Napoleon's defeat was decisive. It was due to his too great 
confidence, to the decline of his powers from ill health, to the 
slackness of some of his generals, and to the steadiness and 
courage with which the British and Prussians performed their 
allotted tasks. Had Napoleon shown the brilliancy of his earlier 
generalship, he might have won the battle ; but it would only 
have been to meet his downfall on some other field. 

After Waterloo, Paris fell a second time into the hands of the 
allies. Napoleon, failing to secure their permission to with- 
draw to America, voluntarily sought refuge on board a g p^^^ 
British man-of-war and was carried to England. Had of Napoleon 
he fallen into the hands of Bliicher, it is possible that ^^ ^^"^ ^^' 
he might have been executed as an outlaw, under the Vienna 
proclamation. As it was, he was transported to the British isle 
of St. Helena, in the south Atlantic. There he fretted out the 
remainder of his life in quarrels with his English jailers, and died 
in 1821. 

Napoleon was a man of titanic force, with a remarkable genius 
for war and for government. The opportunity offered to g^g^ qyisi- 
his talents by the chaotic state of Europe, and by the acter of 
upheaval of the French Revolution, was unequaled in ^^° ®°° 
history. His success was largely due to the remarkable 



542 THE NAPOLEONIC EMPIRE 

combination in his nature of the dreamer and of the practical 
man of affairs. He had prodigious energy and capacity for 
work, and a marvelous grasp of multitudinous details. He 
often worked eighteen hours a day, wearing out relays of secre- 
taries. He could go without sleep for long periods ; then, when 
opportunity offered, he could sleep anywhere, at any time, even 
in the saddle while on the march. In his earlier campaigns he 
pored over the muster rolls of his regiments until he knew hun- 
dreds of his soldiers by name. This accounts in part for his 
tremendous popularity with the rank and file of his armies. His 
mastery of geographical detail was amazing. He carried the 
map of Europe in his mind ; but before entering upon a campaign 
he familiarized himself with every hill and valley, every road, 
stream, and mountain pass of the region he was about to invade. 
His personal character, as described by Madame de Remusat 
(ra-mii-sa'), a lady in waiting to Empress Josephine, was a mix- 
ture of attractive and repulsive traits. He could fascinate men 
and women when he chose. But his real nature, especially in 
later life, was marked by monstrous selfishness, cynical unscru- 
pulousness, and a blind trust in the infallibility of his powers. 

E. The Congress of Vienna 

Europe meanwhile was reconstituted by the decrees of the 

Congress of Vienna. In general, the "legitimate" rulers were 

659. Treat- restored and barriers erected against democratic 'move- 

i!.^ °* ments and liberal ideas. The wishes of the people, and 

(181 5) national aspirations, were ignored. But disputes over the 

disposal of Pohsh territory and of Saxony almost brought the 

allies to war among themselves. The Tsar of Russia wished to 

secure for himself all of Napoleon's duchy of Warsaw (formed 

from the Polish territories taken from Prussia and Austria) ; 

and he offered to compensate Prussia by giving to her Saxony, 

whose king had supported Napoleon. Austria and England 

opposed this plan, and formed an alliance with Louis XVIII of 

France to defeat it. Through the adroit diplomacy of Louis's 



THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA 543 

ambassador Talleyrand, France recovered a voice in the Con- 
gress of Vienna. In the end the dispute was compromised. The 
chief provisions of the treaties of Vienna were the following : — 

1. Prussia gave up some of her former Polish provinces and was com- 

pensated by gains on the left bank of the Rhine, and part (not 
the whole) of Saxony. 

2. Russia was allowed to erect most of the Polish provinces into a 

new kingdom of Poland, which was annexed to the Russian crown. 

3. Austria gave up her former possessions in the Netherlands, in ad- 

dition to part of her Polish provinces, and was compensated with 
territory in northern Italy. 

4. Cathohc Belgium was joined in unstable union with Protestant 

Holland to form the kingdom of the Netherlands. 

5. Norway was torn from Denmark, with which it had been united for 

centuries, and joined to Sweden, to compensate that state for the 
loss of Finland, which was retained by Russia. 

6. Great Britain kept the Cape of Good Hope, and Malta, Ceylon, 

Trinidad, and other islands won in the course of the long war ; 
but she restored more than she kept. 

7. Murat was at first aUowed to remain on the throne of Naples ; but 

after the Hundred Days he was deposed and shot, and the 
Bourbon line restored. 

8. The states of Germany (which now numbered thirty-eight, in- 

cluding Austria and Prussia) were organized into a loose union . 
called the German Confederation, to take the place of the old 
Holy Roman Empire. 

9. Switzerland was restored as an independent state, with its neu- 

trality guaranteed by the Great Powers. The munber of its 
cantons was increased from 19 to 22. 

Under the skillful management of Talleyrand, France fared 
wonderfully well in the first arrangements for peace, but was 
punished for its adhesion to Napoleon during the Hundred 66 x tv 
Days. In the treaty of Paris (November, 181 5) Louis of Paris 
XVIII was obliged to accept the following terms : — (1815) 

I. The frontiers were fixed as they had been in 1790, thus depriving 
France of Savoy, which at first she had been allowed to retain. 



EUROPE IN 1815 

SCALE OF MILES 
6 S'O .100 150 Zbo 250 

__„^,„„ Boundary of the Germak 
Confederation. 



% 



^ 



^ 



o 




'N O R W / 



SLESVVIcfFt." 

HOLSTEINj;: 




"71; ^'"V-^A — j fi. »Frank°fort'^ 



S 



*" R 






•;%f oM-OMBAROyT 



^yqnsi 



^^•s.s5^:^t"j^ 




Longitude 



Longitude 



544 



546 THE NAPOLEONIC EMPIRE 

2. A war indemnity of 700,000,000 francs ($140,000,000) was imposed 

upon her. 

3. She was required to return the priceless works of art of which 

Napoleon had despoiled conquered states. 

With France thus weakened, and the principles of legitimacy 
reestablished throughout Europe, the allied sovereigns thought 
themselves free to return to the policies of the eighteenth cen- 
tury, secure against any renewal of popular revolts. 

For Great Britain the struggle with revolutionary France 

and the Napoleonic empire was "a mortal struggle, the most 

661. Cost dangerous, the most doubtful, the most costly she had 

to Great" ^^^^ waged." It was entered upon with reluctance, but 

Britain when it was once begun the English were the soul of every 

coalition. "England has saved herself by her exertions," said 

the British prime minister Pitt, at one time, "and will save 

Europe by her example." She contributed much more than an 

example. Her command of the sea, firmly fixed by Nelson's 

victory at Trafalgar, was the chief menace to all French plans 

of conquest ; .and her grants of money to France's continental 

enemies were an indispensable means for carrying on the war. 

Her triumph, however, was dearly bought. The total expen- 
diture of Great Britain was soon treble what it had been in time 
of peace. By 1797 the drain of gold from the country forced 
the Bank of England to cease redeeming its notes in gold and 
silver, and specie payments were not resumed until 182 1. The 
public debt increased by leaps and bounds. At the beginning 
of the French war, in 1793, it was £239,000,000. At the close 
of the war, in 181 5, it had reached the enormous total of 
£861,000,000, with annual payments for interest amounting to 
£25,000,000. The amount of this debt has since been decreased, 
but in 1898 it was still £634,000,000. 

The costs of war and the depreciation of paper currency 
raised prices in England until wheat sold, in 1801, at about 
$4.00 a bushel. Wages, on the contrary, rose but little. There 
followed a great increase of pauperism among the people, a 
result partly due to a bad system of poor relief. A change was 



THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA 547 

also wrought by the war in British politics. For a generation 
after 1792 the Whig party was discredited, because of the sym- 
pathy of some of its leaders for the French Revolution. The 
Tories, who opposed every reform as likely to lead to revolution, 
were firmly seated in power. Thus England, the land of lib- 
erty and the champion of freedom, came to be for a time a 
land of reaction and harsh measures, under the tyranny of a 
narrow and unrepresentative Tory Parliament. 

The treaties of Vienna were far from reestablishing the old 
states-system of Europe as it had existed before 1789. Still 
less did the overthrow of Napoleon, taking Europe as a 662. Per- 
whole, produce a restoration of the Old Regime. A great g^^^g ^f ^j^^ 
part of the work of the revolution and of Napoleon (not period 
including his military conquests) proved permanent. The 
three great ideas which the revolution spread throughout 
Europe were these : popular sovereignty, nationality as the 
basis of states, and social and political equality. Although 
the first two of these ideas were ignored by the Powers at 
Vienna, they continued to live among the people. In the 
end, as we shall see, they brought about the overthrow of the 
system embodied in the Vienna treaties. To-day the principle 
of popular sovereignty, that is, that "governments derive 
their just powers from the consent of the governed," — and of 
nationality, that is, that the territorial limits of the state 
should generally coincide with the limits of the nation, — are rec- 
ognized by all the countries of western Europe. They are even 
making their way in eastern Europe, and in far-distant Asia. 

Even more lasting and fundamental in its effects was the 
social and political equality introduced by the revolution. 
Instead of overthrowing equality before the law (which marked 
the chief difference between the France of the Old Regime and 
that of the revolution), Napoleon had preserved and strength- 
ened this principle, and had spread it throughout his vassal 
and subject countries. Thus western Europe owes to Napoleon 
much of its modern social system, with its abolition of serfdom 
and of personal subjection, its legal equality of all persons, and 



548 THE NAPOLEONIC EMPIRE 

its system of law founded on the Code Napoleon. France par- 
ticularly owes to him, in addition, its highly organized and cen- 
tralized system of education. The system of strongly centralized 
government which he fostered has persisted under every govern- 
ment, republican or monarchical, which France has seen since 
the Reign of Terror. Except the Industrial Revolution (ch. 
xxviii), no event in modern history has so profoundly affected 
the Hfe and status of modern peoples as did the French Revolu- 
tion. And of few rulers in history can it be said that the results 
of their work were so far-reaching and permanent as was the 
case with Napoleon Bonaparte. 

IMPORTANT DATES 

1803. War with Great Britain renewed. 

1805. Nelson defeats French and Spanish fleets off Cape Trafalgar. 

1805. Battle of Austerlitz. 

1806. Battle of Jena; Confederation of the Rhine formed; Holy 

Roman Empire dissolved. 

1807. Peace of Tilsit. 

1808. Uprising in Spain against French rule. 

1809. Battle of Wagram. 

181 2. Invasion of Russia. , 

1813. Uprising of Germany; battle of Leipzig. 

1814. First abdication of Napoleon. 

1815. Return of Napoleon from Elba; battle of Waterloo; treaties 

of Vienna ; Napoleon transported to St. Helena. 

TOPICS AND REFERENCES 

Suggestive Topics. — (i) Was Great Britain or France chiefly responsible 
for the renewal of war in 1803? (2) Do you think Napoleon could have 
conquered England if he had been able to land his armies there ? (3) Why 
was the military strength of Prussia relatively less in 1806 than in the days 
of Frederick the Great? (4) Make a list of Napoleon's vassal kingdoms 
and dependencies at the height of his power. (5) Was the reorganization 
of Germany a good or a bad thing for that land? Why? (6) How might 
Napoleon expect his Continental System to bring England to terms? (7) 
Why were his expectations disappointed? (8) What part did the Penin- 
sular War play in the downfall of Napoleon ? (9) How did his invasion of 
Russia contribute to his fall? (10) Why was the military success of Prussia 
greater in 1813-1814 than in 1806-1807? (11) Were the terms granted to 



TOPICS AND REFERENCES 549 

Napoleon in 1814 unduly harsh? (12) Was the Congress of ^^ienna justi- 
fied in proclaiming him an outlaw upon his return from Elba? (13) What 
enabled Napoleon so easily to recover possession of France? (14) Which 
was the greater general, Napoleon or Wellington ? (15) Were the British 
justified in keeping Napoleon prisoner at St. Helena? (16) Set down in 
one column the acts for which Napoleon deserves praise, and in another 
those for which he deserves censure. (17) Was Great Britain's victory 
over Napoleon worth to her what it cost ? 

Search Topics. — (i) Battle of Trafalgar. Mahan, Sea Power and. 
the French Revolution, II, ch. xvi (latter part). — (2) Nelson. Mahan, 
Nelson, I, ch. x ; II, chs. xvi, xxiii ; Russell, Nelson, chs. xiv-xv, xix-xx. — 
(3) The Ausxerlitz Campaign. Johnston, Napoleon, 1 19-129; Rose, Na- 
poleon, II, ch. xxiii. — (4) Napoleon's Reconstruction of Germany. 
Fournier, Napoleon, 325-335; Rose, Napoleonic Era, 167-168; Fyffe, 
Modern Europe, 166-173; Stephens, Revolutionary Europe, 257-261. — (5) 
Jena, Eylau, and Friedland. Johnston, Napoleon, 131-140; Rose, Na- 
poleon, II, chs. xxv-xxvi. — (6) Tilsit. Johnston, Napoleon, 146-147 ; 
Stephens, 249-250; Rose, Napoleon, II, ch; xxvi. — (7) The Continental 
System. Beard, English Historians, 520-537; Rose, Napoleon, II, ch. xxvi 
(first part) ; Robinson, Readings, II, 503-508. — (8) How the Conti- 
nental System Affected the United States. Channing, Student's His- 
tory, 343-354; Henry Adams, History of the United States, III, 43-47, 49-53, 
91-96, 143-146, 388-390, 395-399; IV, 76-104, 109-111, 125-127. — (9) 
Regeneration of Prussia, 1807-1813. Henderson, Short History, II, 270- 
284, 298-302; Rose, Napoleonic Era, 184-193. — (10) Retreat from Mos- 
cow. 'R.05&, Napoleonic Era, 2^,^,-262 ; Johnston, iVa^o^eora, 181-187 ; Four- 
nier, Napoleon, II, ch. xvi. — (11) Battle of Leipzig. Rose, Napoleon, II, 
324-338; Fournier, II, ch. xvii. — (12) Return from Elba. Johnston, 
Napoleon, 212-218; Fournier, II, ch. xviii. — (13) Napoleon's Hold on 
HIS Soldiers. Ropes, Napoleon, 310-319. — (14) Waterloo. Johnston, 
Napoleon, 223-234; Rose, Napoleon, II, ch. xi; Ropes, Napoleon, lect. 7; 
Encyclopedia Britannica, "Waterloo"; Hugo, Les Miserahles, Pt. II, Bk. I. 
— (15) Duke of Wellington. Green, Short History, 824-827, 831-832, 834- 
836. — (16) Napoleon at St. Helena. Rosebery, Napoleon, chs. xiv-xv; 
Bourrienne, Memoirs, IV, ch. xiii; Fournier, II, ch. xx. — (17) Was Napo- 
leon's Work Beneficial ? Compare Seeley, Napoleon, 299-303 (unfavor- 
able), with Ropes, Napoleon, 302-308 (very favorable). — ^(18) Talleyrand. 
Fyffe, Modern Europe, 380-387; Robinson and Beard, Readings, I, 372-375. 

General Reading. — In addition to the books referred to in the preceding 
chapter, see Rosebery, Napoleon, the Last Phase. Oman's History of the 
Peninsular War (4 vols.) is a recent study of the war in Spain and Portugal; 
Seeley's Life and Times of Stein (3 vols.) covers the Napoleonic period for 
Germany. 



CHAPTER XXVIII 
THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION 

A. Changes in Agriculture and Transportation 

Only recently have historians come to appreciate the very 
important part which practical inventions, play in the history 
663. impor- of human progress. Competent writers now assert that 
IndtTsteial ^^^ advancement of mankind from a condition of beast- 
Revolution like savagery to the height of civilization is to be explained 
"as the result of accumulated changes that found their initial 
impulses in a half-dozen or so of practical inventions." The 
Henry Smith following may be named as the steps in this progress which 
Williams, in were taken in the Prehistoric Age: the discovery of fire, 
BHtannica'^ the invention of the bow and arrow and of pottery mak- 
(iith ed.), ing, the domestication of animals, the development of spin- 
V , 403 jjjj^g ^jj(j weaving, the smelting of iron, and the invention of 

writing. In the period of the Renaissance came the introduction 
of the mariner's compass, the discovery of gunpowder, and the 
invention of the printing press. In the latter part of the eight- 
eenth century and in the beginning of the nineteenth, occurred 
a series of inventions and changes in industry which altered 
practically the whole of man's former mode of living. It is to 
these later inventions and changes that we give the name "the 
Industrial Revolution." With a recent educational speaker we 
may well say that the Industrial Revolution constitutes "the 
greatest single event in the world's history." It came first in 
Great Britain, and it was only after the close of the wars with 
Napoleon that it began to obtain a footing outside that island. 
To understand the nature of the changes wrought by the In- 
dustrial Revolution, we must picture to ourselves the economic 
conditions which preceded it. Agriculture, manufacturing, and 

55° 



CHANGES IN AGRICULTURE AND TRANSPORTATION 551 

land transportation were unaffected by the inventions of the 
Renaissance period. They continued to be carried on by methods 
and with implements which were little improved since the 664. The 
days of the Roman Empire. At the beginning of the eight- "rial condi- 
eenth century the plows were still clumsy wooden affairs tions 
which did little more than scratch the ground. Reaping was done 
entirely with sickles and scythes. The grain was threshed by 
hand, by beating it with jointed sticks called flails. Wind- and 
water-driven sawmills had been introduced in the seventeenth 
century ; but with this exception carpenters and joiners dressed 
their lumber with the same tools as in ancient times. The 
implements of the blacksmith, the mason, and other crafts- 
men remained much what they had been two thousand years 
before. There were no machines, such as now perform ninety- 
nine per cent of man's work for him. There were only the long- 
familiar hand tools. Since there were no machines, there were 
no factories, with their thousands of men, women, and children 
employed as machine operatives. And since there were no 
factories, there were no great factory towns, with their huge 
smoking chimneys blackening the atmosphere and spreading 
squalor and desolation about them. 

Town and country were then much more alike than they now 
are; and the ties of commerce and communication which knit 
place to place were much less strong and numerous. Since the 
old Roman days, there had been little building of new roads, and 
the old ones contrasted unfavorably with those of the fourth 
century. Six horses were required to haul one of the heavy 
coaches of the time; and when it was stalled in one of the 
numerous mudholes, the ox teams of neighboring farmers were 
employed to drag it out. Goods were usually carried by pack 
animals, and most of the traveling was done on horseback. The 
transportation of heavier articles was almost impracticable. 
The isolation of the smaller communities before the middle of 
the eighteenth century is scarcely conceivable. Many villages 
lay, an hour's ride by muddy lanes, back from the highway, and 
their inhabitants saw few strange faces except those of wandering 



552 THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION 

peddlers. Each community was almost wholly self-sufficing. 
It supplied its needs by its own produce and household 
manufactures, and knew little of what went on in the great 
world outside. 

Agriculture was the first occupation to undergo a transforma- 
tion. The slow accumulation of money (capital) in the modern 
665. Im- period made possible the undertaking of drainage, fer- 
fnT^ku"-^ tilization, and other permanent improvements of the soil, 
ture The area of tillable land was thereby increased, and its 

productivity enhanced. Only rich men, however, could under- 
take such improvements ; hence the medieval system of small 
intermixed holdings was gradually broken up, and large farms 
arose. In part these resulted from the "inclosure" by landlords 
of common lands and open fields. Agriculture was thus 
improved ; but the condition of the peasantry became worse, for 
the landlords showed a high-handed disregard for the rights of 
cottagers and small tenants. Early in the eighteenth century 
came other improvements, in the form of better tools and meth- 
ods of cultivation, and new rotations of crops. Root crops — 
such as turnips and beets — were made to alternate with 
grain crops. A field planted to root crops received as much 
rest as under the old plan of lying fallow, while the loss of its 
use every third year was avoided. The turnips and beets 
grown were used for feeding stock. It thus became pos- 
sible to keep cattle over winter, where formerly many were 
killed in ,the fall because of lack of feed. By careful breed- 
ing, the varieties of cattle and sheep were also much improved, 
so that a bullock produced more beef, and a sheep more mutton 
and better wool, than formerly. The increased keeping of live 
stock also made possible better fertilization of the soil, and so 
improved its productiveness. In these various ways the land 
became capable of supporting a larger population than was 
hitherto the case. 

In the middle and second half of the eighteenth century great 
improvements were also made in the roads of Great Britain. 
The main highways between the north and south, which were 



THE NEW INVENTIONS 553 

needed for military purposes in keeping down disaffection in 
Scotland, were first improved. A host of "turnpike" roads 
were also established, which were kept in repair through ^^^ Better- 
money collected as tolls. At the same time skilled ment of the 
engineers introduced better methods of road- making. ^°^ ^ 
The chief of these was a Scotchman named MacAdam, whose 
fame is still commemorated in our "macadamized" roads. 
Better highways made possible the use of carriages all the year 
round. "Fast mail coaches" were established, to run between 
the chief parts of England in what then seemed incredibly short 
times. A writer in 1767 described these changes in the following 
words: "There never was a more astonishing revolution ac- 
complished in the internal system of any country than has been 
within the compass of a few years in that of England. The 
carriage of grain, coal, merchandise, etc., is in general conducted 
with little more than half the number of horses with which it 
formerly was. Journeys of business are performed with more 
than double expedition. Everything wears the face of dispatch ; 
every article of our produce becomes more valuable ; and the 
hinge upon which all the movements turn, is the reformation 
which has been made in our public roads." 

B. The New Inventions 

These changes in agriculture and transportation sink into 
insignificance, however, in comparison with the changes in 
manufacturing. The latter changes began in the second ^^-^ 
half of the eighteenth century, and it is to them especially Changes 
that we give the name of "Industrial Revolution." We jJe^inJug^" 
may best consider this subject by taking up in succession trial Revo- 
(i) the new inventions in spinning and weaving, (2) the ^^^^^ 
application of water and steam power to manufacturing, (3) the 
rise of the factory system, and (4) the changes caused by the 
construction of canals, railroads, and steamships. 

Spinning and weaving, equally with other manufacturing 
processes, had undergone little change in two thousand years. 



554 



THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION 



Until the seventeenth century the distaff and spindle, such as 
are depicted on the ancient monuments of Egypt, were almost 
668 Th imiversally used for drawing out and twisting the fibers of 
Domestic wool, flax, etc., into yarn or thread.^ The spinning 
System wheel — first the high wheel, revolved by the hand, and 

then the low wheel, revolved by the foot — marks the first 
advance in spinning. By the beginning of the eighteenth cen- 
tury spinning wheels were in general use in England. These 
implements enabled the women (who usually did this work) to 
spin faster and to produce better yarn, but they could still spin 

only one thread at a time. The 

manufacture of cloth continued to 

be a household occupation. "The 

sheep were shorn, their fleeces 

carded, the thread spun, the cloth 

woven, all by hand, and by the 

farmer, his family, and his laborers." 

Even where spinning or weaving was 

carried on as a distinct trade, the 

workman rarely lived by his trade 

alone. He did his work with the 

aid of his wife and children in his 

own little cottage ; and at odd times 

he cultivated the few acres of ground 

attached to it. We have a description, dated 1770, of a village 

in Lancashire, which later became a great center of the cotton 

industry. Of the fifty or sixty villagers who then resided in 

it, not more than six or seven gained their rent directly from 

the land. "All the rest got their rent partly from some branch 

of trade, such as spinning wool, linen, or cotton. The father 

Radcliffe, of a family would earn from eight shillings to half a guinea 

p'owerWeav- [^ ^^^^^^ '^'^^^ $2.50] at his loom, and his sons, if he had one, 

ing, 59 flf. two, or three alongside him, six or eight shillings per week. 

But the great sheet-anchor of all the cottages and small farms 

1 Even at the present time these primitive instruments may sometimes be seen 
in use in the backward regions of the Balkan peninsula. 




Spinning Wheel 



THE NEW INVENTIONS 



555 



was the labor attached to the hand-wheel. And when it is con- 
sidered that it required six or eight hands to prepare and spin 
sufficient yarn for the consumption of one weaver, this shows 
clearly the inexhaustible source there was for every person from 
the age of seven to eighty years of age (who retained their sight 
and could move their hands) to earn their bread." This system 
of household manufacture we call the Domestic System of in- 
dustry, as opposed to the Factory System which supplanted it. 
Spinning was the first branch of cloth-making to be revolution- 
ized by new inventions. About 1764 a poor carpenter and 
weaver, named James Hargreaves, got an idea from seeing ^g j^^^ 
his wife's overturned spinning wheel revolving on the floor, spinning 
and invented a new spinning machine which he called ^^'^ ^°®^ 
a "jenny," in her honor. It was a rectangular frame with 
eight upright spindles. These were rotated by turning a wheel 
with the right hand, while 
the left hand drew toward 
the spinner a sliding frame 
which clamped and drew 
out the eight threads, the 
spindles meanwhile twist- 
ing them. In this way 
eight threads were spun at 
the same time. By later im- 
provements the number was 
increased to sixteen threads 
and even more. The inven- 
tion of the "spinning jenny" greatly increased the supply of 
yarn. But the thread which it spun was neither fine enough 
nor tightly enough twisted to be used for "warp," as the longi- 
tudinal threads of cloth are called. A spinning invention of 
another sort, perfected by Richard Arkwright a few years 
later, not merely supplied this defect but still further increased 
the productiveness of spinning. Arkwright's plan discarded 
the spindles, and passed the prepared wool or cotton through 
two sets of rollers, the second of which revolved more 




Spinning Jenny 



550 THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION 

rapidly than the first. The fibers were thus drawn out into 
threads, which were twisted by a second operation. This ma- 
chine was called a "water frame," because it was intended to 
be operated by water power instead of by hand power. Pres- 
ently a third step was taken, in 1775, by Samuel Crompton. 
He had the happy thought to combine the best features of the 
"jenny" and the "water frame" into a new machine, which 
because of its hybrid character he called "the mule." With the 
improved machines it became possible for one person to spin as 
many as one hundred and fifty threads at a time. Subsequent 
improvements have produced great automatic machines which 
— when tended by a single operative and one or two children to 
mend the broken threads — draw out, twist, and wind twelve 
thousand threads at one operation. 

The new inventions so enormously increased the output of the 
spinners that it became impossible for hand weavers to keep 
670. The ^P "^^^^ them. With the old hand loom it was necessary for 
power loom the weaver, sitting before his loom, to throw the shuttle 
invene containing the "weft" (crosswise threads) back and forth 

by hand through the separated threads of the "warp" (length- 
wise threads). When broadcloths were woven, it had formerly 
been necessary to have two persons, one to throw the shuttle 
from each side. This necessity had been done away with 
through the invention (in 1738) of a "flying shuttle," which was 
operated by the weaver pulling alternately two cords, one with 
his right and one with his left hand. Nevertheless, there was 
imperative need of a power loom in which the shuttle should be 
automatically thrown. To the invention of such a loom^ a clergy- 
man named Edmund Cartwright set himself, and in 1785 he 
patented his first crude production. By later inventions he 
greatly improved this first effort. When Cartwright's power 
loom came into general use, weavers were enabled to keep up 
with the spinners. A single weaver can now tend four or more 
automatic looms, each working at a much faster rate than was 
possible with the old hand looms. 

As a combined result of the foregoing inventions, cloth of all 



THE NEW INVENTIONS 557 

sorts is now much cheaper and more plentiful than it has ever 
been before in the history of the human race. The working 
classes have profited by this fact, equally with other classes. 
But the immediate effect of the introduction of machinery was 
usually the loss of employment by hand workers, so it is not 
surprising that spinners and weavers opposed the new inventions. 
They frequently incited riots, attacked factories, and broke to 
pieces the new labor-saving machines.^ 

At first, the power looms and spinning machines were run by 
water power, which had long been used to turn flour and grist 
mills. But water power was very uncertain, for the 671. Use of 
amount of water in the streams changes with the seasons ; ^^^^J^ power 
moreover, it is not to be had in all places. Fortunately, 
it was not long before the steam engine was invented, to 
aid not only spinning and weaving, but the countless other 
operations of modern life to which machinery was soon 
applied. 

For nearly two thousand years men had known of the expan- 
sive power of steam, but it was not until the beginning of the 
eighteenth century that this force was made practically 672. Inven- 
useful. Its first use was in the form of a steam pump for g\° ^m 
pumping water out of mines. The illustration on page engine 
558 shows the working of this crude engine. The steam entered 
a ''cylinder" under the "piston head," thus raising one end of 
the crossbeam. The top of the cylinder was open, and when the 
steam under the piston head was sufficiently condensed by cool- 
ing, the pressure of the air forced back the piston, and all was 
ready for another stroke. The troubles with this early engine 
were that it was slow and weak in its action, it wasted a great 

1 The changes which have been described above are far from exhausting the list 
of improvements made in cloth manufacturing. The additional improvements 
include the invention of the cotton gin by the American inventor Eli Whitney (1794) 
for cleaning the seed from raw cotton ; the application of machinery to carding 
or combing straight its fibers, and for forming it into small rolls or "rovings" as a 
preliminary to spinning ; the use of the chemical called chlorine (1787) for the rapid 
bleaching of white goods ; and the printing of calicoes by rollers on which the patterns 
are cut, so that all the colors are applied at one printing, in place of the old hand 
printing by hammering small blocks successively, one for each color. 



558 



THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION 



amount of steam and so used up much fuel, and it could work 
only in one direction. 




Early Pumping Steam Engine 



The real inventor of the modern steam engine was James 
Watt, a maker of mathematical and astronomical instruments. 
673 Tames While repairing a model of one of these early steam pumps, 
Watt im- Watt noticed its waste of steam, and set to work to remedy 
proves It .^ It would take too long to describe in detail the changes 
which he made. It is enough to say that his first improvements 
made the steam engine quick-acting, powerful, and saving of 
fuel; but it was still useful only for pumping. His later in- 
ventions enabled it to turn a wheel, and so adapted it to all 
kinds of work. In 1785 the steam engine was first applied to 



FACTORY SYSTEM, CANALS, AND RAILWAYS 559 

running spinning machinery, and its use spread rapidly. By 
the end of the eighteenth century, there were as many steam 
engines in use in England as there were water- and wind-mills. 

But engines and machinery are largely made of iron; and, 
until the latter part of the eighteenth century, iron was scarce 
and costly. So all these inventions would have been of little 
value if they had not been accompanied by improvements in 
the manufacture of iron and steel. 

For ages iron ore had been "smelted" — that is, the metal 
extracted from the ore — by mixing it with burning charcoal. 
But the forests of England, from which the charcoal was 674. Im- 
made, were decreasing rapidly, and it was clear that little ^^ ■^q^_ 
increase could be made in the amount of iron produced making 
so long as charcoal was used as fuel. It was found, however, 
that the smelting could be done just as well, and more cheaply, 
by using coke made from ordinary coal ; and the supply of 
coal was abundant. At the same time the bellows, which blew 
the fire and made it burn with sufi&cient heat, were replaced by 
other inventions which gave a stronger and steadier draft. 
Improvements were also made in the quality of the iron, and 
in the tools for hammering it out and in methods of casting. 
Furthermore, Watt's improved engines benefited mining by 
making it easier and cheaper to pump out water, and so to 
operate deep mines. From year to year improvements in min- 
ing and iron-making have gone steadily on. The result is that 
this necessary metal has constantly become cheaper and more 
plentiful, as the increased use of machinery has created new 
demands for it. 

C. Factory System, Canals, and Railways 

Not the least of the changes wrought by the Industrial Revo- 
lution — for good or for ill — was the overthrow of the old 
domestic system of manufacturing and the substitution g jy 
of the factory system. Under the domestic system each of the fac- 
weaver or other workman set up his own tools, in his ^°^^ system 
own house, and used materials which he himself paid for. 



560 THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION 

When his goods were finished, he sold them to the dealers, 
and received the pay. He was his own employer, and supplied 
his own capital. He worked when he pleased and how he 
pleased ; and his wife and children assisted him. Ordinarily, 
as we have seen, he had a garden or little farm which he cul- 
tivated, and so was not wholly dependent on his handicraft. 

The new inventions in spinning and weaving caused the fac- 
tory system to take the place of the domestic system. Machines 
in large numbers were now brought together under the roof of 
a single "factory," in order to take advantage of steam or water 
power. These machines, together with the factory itself, were 
the property of a capitalist employer, who paid his workmen 
"wages" for operating them. The employer supplied the ma- 
terials and received the manufactured goods, which he sold as 
he pleased. The work people had to move to crowded towns, 
where the factories usually were situated, and so could no longer 
depend upon gardens and small farms for part of their subsist- 
ence. Thenceforth, they could count upon their wages alone. 
Thus the working classes became more dependent on their em- 
ployers, and the problems of "labor" and "lack of employment" 
arose. The fact that in the factories women and little children 
(often only six years old) were hired for a great deal of the work, 
and that they were forced to labor for long hours, often fourteen 
and sixteen a day, in dark, close, and unhealthful rooms, gave 
rise to problems which soon demanded solution. The first 
application of the factory system was to the "textile industry" 
(cloth-making). But in course of time hundreds of other in- 
dustries also arose, or were reorganized, on the basis of the fac- 
tory system. 

The rapid development of manufactures, which followed the 
introduction of machinery, produced further changes in the 
676. Canal means of transportation. To the improvements in road- 
building making, already going on, there were added (i) a great 
development of canal building, and (2) the invention of the 
locomotive and the beginning of railroad building. France 
(§ 448) and Prussia (§ 519) had developed systems of canal 



FACTORY SYSTEM, CANALS, AND RAILWAYS 56 1 




transportation earlier than this ; but it was not until the sec- 
ond half of the eighteenth century that canals were introduced 
into Great Britain. In 1761 the first canal, with locks and 
aqueducts for surmounting the difficulties presented by inequal- 
ities of the country, was opened between the rising manufac- 
turing city of Manchester and a coal mine seven miles distant. 
This began an era of canal building which involved "a com- 
plete revolution in the method of transport existing at that time, 
for by the close of the century the country was much better 
provided with canals than it had been with roads at the begin- 
ning." The transporta- 
tion of bulky goods was 
thereby much cheap- 
ened. 

Even more important 
than the construction 
of canals was the 677. Loco- 
construction of motive en- 

. gines and 

steam railways, railroad 

which came in the Ijuilding 
nineteenth century. Horse " tramways " to transport coal for 
short distances had been built in England as early as the 
seventeenth century. At the beginning of the nineteenth 
century, Richard Trevithick devised a steam locomotive engine 
of a rude sort for this work. But the invention of a really 
practicable "traveling engine" was the work of George 
Stephenson, the self-taught son of a poor English collier. In 
1814 he produced his first locomotive. In the beginning en- 
gines were employed only on short lines, to haul coal from 
mines to the river docks, there to be loaded on boats and barges. 
The first railway for both passengers and freight was opened 
in 1825 between Stockton and Darlington, a distance of twelve 
miles. The passenger cars were like stagecoaches linked 
together and running on rails ; and for some time this model 
was followed. In 1830 the Liverpool and Manchester railway 
(thirty-seven miles) was opened. For this, Stephenson sub- 



Early Locomotive (Stephenson, 1825) 
Preserved at Newcastle, England 



562 



THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION 



niitted, in successful competition with three other contestants, 
an engine called the "Rocket," which attained a speed of thirty- 
five miles an hour. Eight years later this railway was opened 
clear through from London to Liverpool. It then became pos- 
sible to cover in ten hours a distance which formerly by the 
fastest mail coach had taken sixty hours. With these events 
began the modern railway era. 




Railways of Europe in igoo 

In America, railway construction began almost immediately 
after 1825. On the Continent of Europe it began later. By 
the middle of the nineteenth century the basis of the existing 
network of roads had been laid. By the end of it, railroads 
linked together all parts of Europe, leaving few of those centers 
of barbarism which survived the Middle Ages in the heart of 
the most civilized countries. The chief economic result of the 
railway is the great cheapening in price of bulky commodities, 
permitting to all classes a higher standard of comfort. 



EFFECTS OF THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION 563 

Equally important with the economic effects of the railway is 
its work in facilitating communication. The railroad made pos- 
sible the cheap and regular postal services, which now link 678. steam 
together the whole world in a close and constant union of navigation 
thought and interest. Other agencies, of course, have contrib- 
uted to this same end. Among these was the development of 
steam navigation, which preceded the invention of the loco- 
motive. Several Englishmen and Americans shared the attempt 
to solve this problem. The most famous of these was Robert 
Fulton, an American, who in 1807 launched the Clermont, to run 
on the Hudson River from New York to Albany. But it was 
not until 1837 that steam vessels began to cross the Atlantic. 
The development of the submarine cable, the electric telegraph, 
and the telephone, will be described in a later chapter. , 

This Industrial Revolution, which began in the second half 
of the eighteenth century, went steadily on in the nineteenth. 
We are still in the full tide of its ever widening sweep. 679. Spread 
Great Britain's priority in the movement, joined to her ^ystrial"' 
commercial and naval supremacy, brought her an in- Revolution 
dustrial and financial ascendancy which has not yet been 
overthrown. On the Continent of Europe the Industrial Revo- 
lution did not begin until after 181 5, and it came then as 
a result of the example of England. In the United States 
it began somewhat earlier, though equally from British sources. 

D. Efeects of the Industrial Revolution 

Among the far-reaching effects of the Industrial Revolution 
we may note the following : — 

(i) Production has been enormously increased. The auto- 
matic machines which invention has created may be regarded 
as gigantic slaves whose labor we may use without gg^ j^_ 
scruple. *'It is no figure of speech, but sober truth," says creased 
a recent writer, "to say that in the mills of the textile ^^° ucion 
industries there has come into existence, as a result of the In- 
dustrial Revolution, a non-human working population far sur- 



5^4 THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION 

passing the total human population of the whole earth. No one 
knows how great it is ; but some preliminary calculations con- 
vince me that it is considerably over 50,000,000,000. That is, 
had there been no introduction of machinery, it would take that 
many men and women to do the work now done by it." ^ As a 
result, prices of all manufactured articles have been lowered, 
and the people have been benefited through better food, better 
clothing, and larger opportunities for life. 

(2) The whole world has become a single industrial state, 
delicately responsive to the fluctuations of demand and supply. 

O81 World- ^^ ^^^ ^^^^ been said that a failure of the cotton crop in 
wide com- Egypt or America produces a closure of the mills in Eng- 
^^^'^^ land, while an increased demand for their products in 

9 India or China causes them to work overtime. The lands of 
the whole earth are put under contribution as never before for 
the food, clothing, and habitations of our daily life. 

(3) Cities have grown enormously in size, while the country 
population has relatively declined. Too often the growth in 

682. Growth the cities has taken the form of rows of ugly cottages or 
of city life tenements, blackened and smoke-begrimed, with a total 

absence of gardens or even grass plots. 

(4) The rich have grown vastly richer, and the poor have 
grown relatively poorer. The distance which separates the 

683. Rich extremes of wealth and poverty is now much greater than 
more widely ^^^o^^- Tremendous possibilities, both for good and for 
separated evil, lie in the enormous accumulations of wealth in the 

hands of favored individuals and of giant corporations. 

(5) The position of the working classes, through their separa- 
684 Work- ^^°^ from the soil and the rise of the wage system of employ- 
ing classes ment, has become more dependent and less stable. New 

ess s a e pj-oblems of unemployment have arisen. The rela- 
tions of capital and labor have become more hostile. This in 
turn tends to produce strikes, boycotts, and lockouts, the weap- 
ons of industrial warfare. 

1 Professor James T. Shotwell, in Ninth Annual Gonvention of the Association of 
History Teachers of the Middle States and Maryland, 14. 



EFFECTS OF THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION 565 

(6) A host of new social ills have arisen from the unhealthy 
conditions of factory employment, (§ 794). These in turn have 
led to humanitarian movements for their removal, through 685. Fac- 
limiting the employment of women and children in fac- ^^^T^^ 
tories and mines, improving the sanitary conditions of remedy 
employment, and reducing the hours of labor — first from four- 
teen to twelve hours, then from twelve to ten hours, and now 
from ten to eight hours. 

(7) An increase in intelligence and in democracy has accom- 
panied the Industrial Revolution. This is partly a result of 
that movement ; in part also it is due to the social in- 686. In- 
fluences arising from the French Revolution. Improved ^""^^^e in 

intcllififcncc 
communications made possible a wider circulation for and democ- 

books, pamphlets, and newspapers; and about 1814 ^^'^y 
the steam printing press made printing quicker and cheaper. 
European governments long attempted, by stamp taxes and 
other restrictions, to keep newspapers and political publications 
from reaching the multitude, but the attempt was in vain. As 
the people increased in numbers and wealth, political agitation 
was carried to them by the press, and the demand began to be 
heard that they should be admitted to a share in the government. 
Everything made for a growth of democracy in the new era. 
But for a generation the rulers of the allied nations of Europe 
shut their eyes and ears to the signs of the new time, and sought 
to bring the people back to their former bondage. 

As a result, the history of the quarter of a century which 
followed the downfall of the Napoleonic empire was largely made 
up of a conflict between the forces of Progress and those of Re- 
action. It is to this conflict that we must now turn. 

IMPORTANT DATES 

1764. Hargreaves invents the spinning jenny. 

1769. Watt patents his first improved engine. 

1785. Cartwright invents the power loom. 

1S07. Fulton's steamboat runs on the Hudson River. 

1814. Stephenson produces his first locomotive. 

1825. First railway opened. 



566 THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION 

TOPICS AND REFERENCES 

Suggestive Topics. — (i) What connection is there between the Indus- 
trial Revolution and the " application of reason to the affairs of life " de- 
scribed in chapter xxiv ? (2) Which were of more immediate importance, 
the changes in agriculture or the new inventions applied to manufacturing? 
Which was ultimately more important ? (3) What is the difference between 
a machine and a tool? (4) Which class contributed most to advance 
human welfare — statesmen and generals, such as Pitt and Wellington, or 
inventors, such as Hargreaves, Watt, and Stephenson? (5) What did the 
working people gain by the substitution of the factory system for the do- 
mestic system? (6) What did they lose? (7) How. did the locomotive 
and steamship help on the Industrial Revolution? (8) How did the 
Industrial Revolution aid the growth of political democracy? 

Search Topics. — (i) An English Village before the Industrial 
Revolution. George Eliot, Silas Marner (description of Raveloe). 
— (2) The Domestic System of Manufacture. Cheyney, Industrial 
and Social History of England, 185-189; liohsoTi, Evolution of Modern Cap- 
italism , da., ii. — (3) Improvements in Agriculture. Cheyney, 216- 
220; Ogg, Social Progress in Contemporary Europe, ch.vi. — (4) Inven- 
tions IN Spinning and Weaving. Robinson and Beard, Development of 
Modern Europe, II, 30-38; Cheyney, 203-212; Weeden, in Report Am. 
Hist. Assoc, 1902, I, 193-210 ("The Art of Weaving"); Baines, History 
of Cotton Manufacture, ch. ix; Traill, Social England, V, 305-317. — 
(5) James Watt and the Steam Engine. Robinson and Beard, Devel- 
opment, II, 39-44; Thurston, Growth of the Steam Engine, 78-143. — (6) 
Sir Humphrey Davy's Safety Lamp and the Mining of Coal. Rand, 
Selections Illustrating Economic History, 51-54. — (7) Stephenson and 
the Locomotive. Smiles, Life of George Stephenson, chs. viii-ix, xxii; 
Encyclopedia Britannica, XXII, 819-822. — (8) Early Attempts at a 
Steamboat. McMaster, History of the American People, I, 50; II, 
77-79; III, 486-494; Encyclopedia Britannica, XXY, 823. — (9) The 
Factory System OF Manufacture. Cheyney, 212-213, 232-239; Cooke 
Taylor, The Modern Factory System; Hobson, Modern Capitalism, ch. 
iv. — (10) The Industrial Town. Hobson, ch. xiii. — (11) Social 
Changes Produced by the Factory System. Cheyney, 235-239; 
Robinson and Beard, Development, II, 45-49 ; Robinson and Beard, Read- 
ings, II, § 56. 

General Reading. — See in addition to the above Walpole's History of 
England since iSi^, vol. I; Cunningham's Growth of English Industry and 
Commerce, vol. II; Warnfer's Landmarks in English Indtistrial History; 
Gibbins's Economic and Industrial Progress of the Century; Cambridge 
Modern History, vol. X. 



CHAPTER XXIX 



POLITICAL REACTION AND THE REVOLUTIONS OF 1830 

A. Europe under Metternich's System 

Forty years of peace followed the treaties of Vienna. During 
that time the Industrial Revolution was introduced on the 
Continent, and the peoples of western Europe advanced ^^^ ^^^^ 

rapidly in numbers, in years of 
wealth, and in political ^^^^^ 
importance. The absence of 
wars between the great states 
was largely due to the iniiu- 
ence of what was called the 
Grand Alliance. Originally 
this league was composed of 
the four Powers which had 
overthrown Napoleon (Aus- 
tria, Prussia, Russia, and 
Great Britain). After 18 18 
France also was admitted to 
its councils. Its purpose was 
to maintain peace by enforcing 
the treaties of Vienna; but 
it developed into a league for 
suppressing Liberal ideas and 
upholding absolute govern- 
ment all over the Continent. 




Metternich 
From the painting by T. Lawrence 



The chief statesman of the Grand Alliance was Prince ^gg j^^^_ 
Metternich (met'ter-niK) of Austria. He was a polished ternich's 
» but cjoiical diplomatist who, until the middle of the nine- ^° ^^ 
teenth century, exercised a powerful influence in European poli- 

567 



568 POLITIC,'\L REy\CTION AND REVOLUTION 

tics. His ideas and policy were summed up, in his own words, as 
follows: " The first need of society is to be maintained by strong 
authority, and not to govern itself. Therefore, let the govern- 
ments govern, let them maintain the foundations of their in- 
Robinson stitutions, both ancient and modern ; for it is at all times 
Readings in dangerous to touch them. It certainly would not now, 
ro'beanHis- ^^ ^^® general confusion, be wise to do so." More briefly, 
tory, II, 386 the essence of his policy has been declared to be, "Do 
(condensed) j^Q^hing, and let nothing be done," in the way of demo- 
cratic reforms or the disturbance of existing territorial arrange- 
ments. This was the policy which the five great Powers sought 
to enforce upon Europe. The means which they used were: 
(i) A series of congresses, held from time to time, in which the 
rulers or their representatives met to talk over the affairs .of 
Europe. (2) When necessary, armed intervention was used ; 
that is, one or more of the Powers were commissioned to inter- 
fere in the internal affairs of any state in which democratic 
movements threatened to disturb the peace of Europe, or to 
overthrow the sacred rights of legitimate sovereigns.^ 

The national uprisings which caused the downfall of Napoleon 
had been directed against the rule of a foreign power, not against 
680 Secret ^^ Liberal ideas of the French Revolution. When, there- 
Liberal fore, the allied Powers ignored national sentiments, and 
socie les insisted upon absolute governments, they came into col- 
lision with the very force which had enabled them to triumph 

1 The Grand Alliance, which held these congresses and intervened to put down 
Liberalism in different countries, is often confused with an organization called the 
"Holy Alliance." The latter was a visionary and impractical Christian brotherhood 
of European rulers, formed by Tsar Alexander I of Russia. In this "Holy Alliance" 
the sovereigns declared their "fixed resolution to take for their sole guide the pre- 
cepts of that Holy Religion [Christianity]"; to "remain united by the bonds of a 
true and indissoluble fraternity" ; and "on all occasions and in all places to lend each 
other aid and assistance." This compact was signed by most of the European 
Powers. The exceptions were England, whose ministers excused themselves on 
constitutional grounds ; the Pope, who felt that the Alliance interfered with his pre- 
rogatives ; and the Sultan of Turkey, who was excluded because he was not a Chris- 
tian. Few of the sovereigns took the "Holy Alliance" seriously; even Metternich 
called it "mere pious verbiage." The real governing body of Europe in this period 
was the Grand Alliance, which is described above, 



EUROPE UNDER METTERNICII'S SYSTEM 569 

over the French Empire. In the ten years following the treaties 
of Vienna, Liberal principles spread all over western Europe, — 
largely through the efforts of secret societies. The chief of 
these was the Carbonari (car-bo-na're ; "charcoal burners"). 
This society had first been organized in Italy to expel the 
French, but later worked for the freedom of that land from 
Austrian rule, and for a united Italy under a constitutional 
government. Its members were drawn from all ranks of 
society. After 1816 it is estimated that they numbered sixty 
thousand, scattered throughout Italy. 

Metternich's policy was most successful, perhaps, in Germany. 
That land, by the treaties of Vienna, was organized into a loose 
confederation, with a federal Diet so weak and dilatory ^ slight 
as to be the laughing-stock of Europe. Austria maintained progress in 
her traditional leadership in German affairs, but her ^rmany 
ascendancy was weakened by the growth of Prussia. Some of 
the German states were absolute governments; others were 
monarchies tempered by traditional assemblies ; in others the 
princes had granted written constitutions with elected assem- 
blies. The king of Saxony held so high an idea of the royal 
office that he never went out on foot, or spoke to any one be- 
neath the rank of colonel. A few enlightened journalists and 
university professors conducted an agitation for a Liberal and 
united Fatherland, expressing their views in the press, in uni- 
versity lectures, and in the gymnastic and students' societies 
which sprang up all over Germany. But the Diet demanded 
that university professors who taught "harmful doctrines" 
be removed; the student societies were ordered suppressed; 
and a strict censorship of the press was established. The 
system of Metternich was thus established in fulk force, and 
for half a century there was little progress in Germany toward 
national unity or political liberty. 

In Spain the reaction against Liberal ideas was blindest, and 
it was there that revolution first broke out. When the Bourbon 
Spanish king, Ferdinand VII, was restored to his throne, in 1814, 
he refused to sanction the constitution which had been adopted 



570- POLITICAL REACTION AND REVOLUTION 

(1812) by those who had driven out the French. Instead, he 
arbitrarily imprisoned the leading Liberals, revived the Inquisi- 
6 I I r- ^^°^' ^^^ restored the worst abuses of the Old Regime, 
rectionin "Nothing I can say," wrote an Englishman from 
Spain (1820) gpg^ij^^ jj^ jgjg^ "could convey to you an adequate 
idea of the wretchedness, misery, want of credit, confidence, 
and trade which exist from one end of the country to the other." 
As a result, the army officers conspired and produced the mili- 
tary revolt of 1820. For a time the movement succeeded, and 
the king was forced to take an oath to observe the constitution. 
But he soon fell back on the support of the clerical and ab- 
solutist parties, and for two years Spain was torn by civil war. 
These troubles, with similar movements in Italy, led the allied 
Powers to hold congresses in 1820, 1821, and 1822. At the first 

692. The of these, the principle was laid down that any changes in 

aiUed government which were forced upon a sovereign gave the 

Powers in— 

tervene allied Powers the right to interfere. Accordingly, France 

(1823) -^as appointed to intervene in Spain, and in 1823 a 

French army restored Ferdinand to absolute power. The 

Liberal movements in Italy (Naples and Piedmont) were also 

put down, Austria being the Power which there carried out 

the orders of the Alliance. 

The Spanish colonies in America, like the home nation, had 

refused to accept the rule of the Bonapartes. After the resto- 

693. Inter- ration of Ferdinand VII in 1814, however, the colonists 
vention in gj-gw discontented at the refusal to grant more liberties 
Amerfca than they had formerly possessed. The result was 
abandoned a series of declarations of independence (beginning 

with that of Buenos Ayres in 181 6), which created the present 
republics of Mexico, and of Central and South America. 
The Spanish government was too weak to put down these re- 
volts unaided ; so the allied Powers of Europe prepared to inter- 
vene in America also. Great Britain and the United States 
opposed this policy. Canning, the British minister of foreign 
affairs, gave formal warning that Great Britain would not per- 
mit such intervention. He invited the United States to join 



EUROPE UNDER METTERNICH'S SYSTEM 571 

Great Britain in declaring against it. President Monroe there- 
upon issued an independent declaration (1823) that the proposed 
interference in America would be regarded "as the manifesta- 
tion of an unfriendly disposition towards the United States."^ 
In the face of this opposition the proposed intervention in the 
former Spanish colonies had to be given up. ''I resolved 
that if France had Spain," said Canning, "it should not be 
Spain with the Indies. I called the New World into existence 
in order to redress the balance of the Old." 

Great Britain's breaking away from the Grand AlHance 
was the first blow to the policy of Metternich. The second 
came in the refusal of Russia to accept Metternich' s at- 694. Greek 
titude towards a Greek revolt from Turkish rule, which endence**^" 
broke out in 182 1. By Greeks and Turks alike that war (1821-1829) 
was waged with great ferocity. The educated classes of Eng- 
land and France strongly favored the Greeks, because of the 
noble part which the Greek race had played in ancient history. 
Many Englishmen (like the poet Byron, who gave up his life in 
the cause) aided the Greeks with money and with arms. Rus- 
sians sympathized with the Greeks because they were of the 
same religion as themselves. Metternich, however, defeated * 
the Tsar's endeavors to induce the Alliance to intervene by 
force of arms in behalf of the Greeks. The Tsar then resolved 
to treat the troubles in Greece as "the domestic concerns of 
Russia," and intervened on his own account. In two hard- 
fought campaigns the Russian forces, operating chiefly in the 
Danube provinces, forced the Sultan, to submit. The treaty of 

^ Out of this declaration has grown the now famous Monroe Doctrine, which 
really contains two principles : (i) It demands that Europe shall keep "hands off" 
and refrain from attempts to conquer or coerce any one of the states of North, 
Central, or South America. (2) It declared that all American territory was then 
(1823) owned by some organized government, and that no new colonies could be 
established by European Powers in the New World. It Also implied the tradi- 
tional policy of the United States of refraining from interference in European 
affairs. The Monroe Doctrine did not mean that the European colonies which 
then existed should be abandoned ; nor does it forbid any American state from 
setting up a monarchy, or any other part of the "European system," if it wishes to 
do so of its own accord. 



572 POLITICAL REACTION AND REVOLUTION 

Adrianople (1829) recognized the independence of Greece. In 
1832 its government was settled by the choice of a prince of 
the royal house of Bavaria as its first king. 

Metternich's system of governing Europe was greatly weak- 
ened by these events. What force remained to it was practically 
destroyed by the breaking out, in 1830, of a new French revolu- 
tion, which sent a second wave of Liberalism over Europe. But 
before describing this we must turn to the internal history of 
France under the restored rule of the Bourbons. 

B. The Restored Bourbons in France 

Though the Bourbon monarchy was reestablished in France, 

in 181 5, the Old Regime was not restored. Louis XVIII began 

695. The his reign by granting a "Constitutional Charter," which 

Constitu- ^ ^^p ^ limited monarchy somewhat after the English 

tional Char- ^ , . ^ . . ^ 1 r n • 

ter of Louis type. Its chief provisions were the following : — 

XVIII 

1. It retained equality before the law, personal liberty, and re- 

ligious freedom. 

2. The legislature (or Assembly) was to be of two houses, — a House 

of Peers appointed for life by the king, and a Chamber of Depu- 
ties elected by the people. 

3. The right to vote was given to persons over thirty years of age, 

who paid 300 francs ($60) a year in direct taxes. 

4. Only the king could propose laws, and all amendments had to be 

approved by him before they were introduced. 

5. The ministers were made legally responsible for the acts of the 

government, but there was no provision requiring them to resign 
office when their measures were defeated in the Chamber of 
Deputies.' 

This charter was represented as the free grant of the king, so 
it did not violate the principles of Metternich's system. Its 
preamble, indeed, asserted that "all authority in France resides 
in the person of the king." Under this government the nation 
had more control over taxation and legislation than it had at 
any time under Napoleon's rule. Nevertheless, the charter 



THE RESTORED BOURBONS IN FRANCE 573 

was far from being satisfactory to the Liberals. Only about 
one man in seventy had the right to vote ; and the property 
qualification for serving in the Chamber of Deputies was placed 
so high that trouble was experienced in finding enough eligible 
men to fill the places. So long as Louis XVIII lived, however, 
serious trouble was avoided. 

When Charles X succeeded his brother, in 1824, he adopted a 
more reactionary policy. The royalists were compensated for 
the confiscation of their estates during the revolution 696. Re- 
by a grant of a thousand million francs ($200,000,000). ^^ ^°°^y 
Other laws favored the Catholic clergy in every practi- Charles X 
cable way. "There is no such thing as political experience," 
wrote the duke of Wellington. "With the warning of James 
II (of England) before him, Charles X was setting up a gov- 
ernment by priests, through priests, for priests." It seemed as 
if the French king was determined to show the truth of the 
saying that the Bourbons "had learned nothing and forgotten 
nothing" in the course of their long exile from power. 

Charles X relied for success on an active foreign policy, to 
turn his people's minds from domestic politics. An op- 697. Algeria 
portunity for action abroad appeared in Algiers in 1830, prance *° 
when the half -piratical Dey (ruler of Algeria), in a fit (1830) 
of passion, struck the French consul. A French expedition sent 
thither met with speedy success. Within two months Algiers 
opened its gates, and the Dey gave up his city, his government, 
and his treasure. In spite of previous pledges to the contrary, 
the French then announced their intention to annex the coun- 
try. They began a war of conquest, which was not completed 
until 1847. 

The "glory" which the army was winning in Algeria, however, 
failed to reconcile the people to the arbitrary course of Charles 
X. The Tsar and Metternich both advised him to make g g pjench 
a virtue of necessity, and to adopt a more concilia- crisis of 
tory course, but Charles replied that "concessions were ^^° 
the ruin of Louis XVI." A clause in the Constitutional 
Charter gave the king power to make "such ordinances as 



574 POLITICAL REACTION AND REVOLUTION 

are necessary for the execution of the laws and the safety of 
the state." Relying upon this, Charles X (on July 26, 1830) 
published four ordinances which practically suspended the char- 
ter.^ The government had so little expectation of resistance 
that only a few troops were at hand. These ordinances,- how- 
ever, proved the signal for a new revolution, which overturned 
the Bourbon monarchy in France, separated Belgium from 
Holland, and spread its waves over Germany, Italy, and Poland. 

C. The Revolutions of 1830 

The French Revolution of 1830 began with a protest from the 
journalists of Paris. They declared that they would treat the 
699. Revo- ordinances as illegal, and they called upon the nation to 
Tulv^iS^o -i^^^ in resisting them. As a result of this appeal, there 
in France was some rioting and street fighting in Paris on July 27. 
But it was not from the journalists and politicians that the revo- 
lution was to receive its force. There was still in France, es- 
pecially in Paris, a rfemnant of the old republican party, which 
cherished in secret the ideas of 1792. It was this party — made 
up of old soldiers. Carbonari, laborers, and students — which 
organized the insurrection in the night of July 27. Three things 
especially favored their rising : (i) The flintlock muskets of the 
soldiers w6re no better than the arms of the rebels. (2) In the 
narrow, crooked streets which then existed, it was easy to erect 
"barricades" of paving stones behind which to fight. (3) The 
soldiers were loath to fire upon the people, because the insur- 
gents hoisted the tricolor flag (red, white, and blue) of 1789, 
which many even of the army regarded as the national colors. 
On July 28th the fighting became more serious. On the 29th 
Lafayette (now an old man) took command of the revolutionists. 
The king sought to retrieve his mistake by withdrawing the 

1 These July ordinances (i) suspended the Hberty of the press; (2) dissolved the 
recently elected Chamber of Deputies, in which there was a Liberal majority, before 
it had a chance to meet ; (3) arbitrarily changed the law governing elections so as 
to Hmit the rights of the people still further; and (4) ordered a new election. 



THE REVOLUTIONS OF 1830 



575 



hated ordinances, but it was too late. The riot had become a 
revolution. The palace of the Tuileries and the city hall fell into 

the hands of the insurgents, and 
resistance came practically to an 
end. Mindful of the fate of 
Louis XVI, Charles X abdicated 
the throne in favor of his young 
grandson, and fled to England. 
Outside of Paris there was no 
fighting, though France as a 
whole welcomed the downfall of 
the Bourbons. 

The revolution was chiefly the 
work of the republicans, who 
were largely uneducated 700. Louis 
workingmen without a vote. ^ntSed 
The profit of the rising, (1830) 
however, went to the Liberal 
royalists, who made up the bour- 
geois, or well-to-do citizens. For 
some time their minds had been 
Louis Philippe turning toward Louis Philippe 

(fe-lep'), Duke of Orleans, a col- 
lateral descendant of the Bourbon house. He had fought for 
the French cause in the early campaigns of the Revolution of 
1789, and had then led the life of an exile in Switzerland, 
America, and England. Since the Restoration he had favored 
the Liberal cause, and Lafayette's support now enabled him 
to secure the crown. Accordingly, on August 9, Louis Philippe 
was enthroned as " King of the French." 

Every great political movement in France had a reflex in the 
other states of continental Europe, and the Revolution of 1830 
proved no exception to this rule. The first land in which 7oi. Revo- 
its effects were felt was the kingdom of the Netherlands- Belgium 
The Belgians disliked their union with Holland, for although (1830) 
they were three fifths of the population, the king, most of the 




576 POLITICAL REACTION AND REVOLUTION 

officials, the official language, and the seat of the government 
were Dutch. The revolution in France gave practical direction 
to this discontent, and in August, 1830, the Belgians revolted. 
When Brussels was bombarded by Dutch troops, the Belgians 
declared that the blood which was shed dissolved every tie 
with Holland. They thereupon set up a government of their own. 
The efforts of Holland to put down the revolt proved in vain. 
In 1 83 1 the Belgians chose a Idng from one of the lesser princely 
houses of Germany, and next year the Great Powers recognized 
his rule. In 1839 the Dutch king at last gave up hopes of re- 
conquering his former subjects, and recognized their independ- 
ence. Since then Belgium has remained an independent king- 
dom, with its neutrality guaranteed by the European Powers. 

In the German states the movement started by the revolution 
in France produced only slight results. In Italy there were 
, 702. Revo- risings which once more called for the intervention of 
movemTnts Austrian troops. In the kingdom of Poland (§ 659) a 
elsewhere formidable insurrection broke out (in November, 1830), 
with the object of recovering Poland's independence. The 
movement, however, was in the interest of the nobles only, who 
refused to make concessions which might have won the 
peasants to their support. The rising was hampered also by 
weakness, disunion, and treachery; and the foreign aid on which 
the leaders rashly counted was not forthcoming. Though out- 
numbered three to one, the Poles made a heroic resistance. It 
was only after they were defeated in five battles, and Warsaw 
was bombarded, that the rebellion came to an end (September, 
183 1). The constitution which had been granted by Alexander 
I was then abolished, and the kingdom of Poland was absorbed 
into the Russian Empire. Thereafter an iron rule kept in 
. check Polish disaffection. 

In spite of these failures, the revolutions of 1830 broke the 
strength of absolute government in Europe. Further triumphs 
of personal Liberty, of Nationality, and of Popular Sovereignty 
only awaited the larger growth of the people in wealth and 
in intelligence. 



TOPICS AND REFERENCES 



IMPORTANT DATES 



577 



1823. Revolts in Italy and Spain put down by the allied Powers. 

1829. The Greeks win their independence from Turkey. 

1830. Successful revolutions in France and in Belgium. 

TOPICS AND REFERENCES 

Suggestive Topics. — (i) What good did the Grand Alliance do? 
What harm? (2) Why was Metternich's system foredoomed to 
faihire? (3) Was the intervention of the allies in Spain and in Italy 
justifiable? (4) Why did Great Britain oppose intervention in Spanish 
America? (5) What interest had the United States in the ques- 
tion ? (6) What effect did the Greek revolt have on European politics ? 
(7) Compare the French Revolution of 1830 with the English revolution 
of 1688. (8) Why did the Belgian revolution succeed? (9) Why did the 
Polish revolt fail ? . 

Search Topics. — (i) Alexander I and the Holy Alliance. Hazen, 
Europe Since 1814, 14-16, 19; Henderson, Short History, II, 325-326. 
■ — (2) Metternich. Hazen, 20-22, 25-28; Encyclopedia Britannica, 
XVIII, 301-307 ; Robinson and Beard, Readings, I, 384-387. — (3) The 
Carbonari. Johnston, Napoleonic Empire in Southern Italy, Pt. II, ch. ii; 
Bolton King, History of Italian Unity, I, ch. ii; Encyclopedia Britannica, 
V, 307-308. — (4) Reaction in Germany. Hazen," 28-44 ; Henderson, 
II, 328-338; Andrews, Development of Modern Europe, I, 229-241. — ^^(5) 
Spanish Revolt op 1820. Hazen, 45-50, 57-64; Fyffe, Modern Europe, 
505-517. — (6) Origin of the Monroe Doctrine. Hazen, 64-65; 
Robinson and Beard, Development, II, 21-28; Readings, II, 38-44; Fyffe, 
517-519. — (7) Greek War for Independence. Hazen, 604-611; 
Phillips, Modern Europe, ch. vii. — (8) French in Algeria. Johnston, 
Colonization of Africa, 134-141 ; Encyclopedia Britannica, I, 650-653. — ■ 
(9) Revolution of 1830 in France. Hazen, ch. iv; Andrews, 1, 157-179; 
Phillips, 168-185; Fjrffe, 602-619. — (10) Revolution of 1830 in Bel- 
gium. Hazen, 100-106 ; Fyffe, 620-625 ; Miiller, Political History of Re- 
cent Times, 112-121. — (11) Polish Revolt of 1830. Hazen, 106-109; 
Miiller, 133-143; 'Skrm.e, Expansion of Russia, txo-i22. 

General Reading. — The best general accounts for this period are in 
Hazen, Andrews, Fyffe, and Miiller. The Cambridge Modern History, 
volume X, treats the subjects more extensively, but dryly. 



CHAPTER XXX 

FRANCE : THE REVOLUTION OF 1848, THE SECOND FRENCH 
EMPIRE, AND THE THIRD REPUBLIC 

France in the nineteenth century was the land of revolutions. 
In the recovery and application of the principles of the 

703. France Revolution of 1789, it was France which ever took the 
teenth^en-" ^^^^- The process was not one of steady, unvar3dng 
tury progression. Rather was it accomplished by a series of 

upheavals, which in turn were followed by reactions. But 
• each revolution advanced progress more than the following re- 
action retarded it. And the advance has always been in the 
same direction — against monarchy, against the rule of priests 
in politics and in the world of thought, and towards liberty and 
ever larger democracy. Every revolution in France spread its 
waves throughout Europe. After the decline of Metternich's 
system, and until the rise of a united Germany, France was the 
most influential country of Europe. This was true alike in 
politics, in literature, in art, and in science. In this chapter 
we shall consider (i) the Orleans Monarchy and the Revolution 
of 1848 in France ; (2) Louis Napoleon and the Second French 
Empire ; (3) the Third French Republic to the close of the nine- 
teenth century. The effects upon other countries of the move- 
ments here described will be considered in later chapters. 

A. The French Revolution or 1848 

Louis Philippe loved to be known as "the Citizen King." 

704. Mon- -^^ avoided show and ceremony, and walked the streets of 
archy of Paris in the modest frock coat and stovepipe hat of the 
Phmppe ordinary well-to-do citizen, with a green umbrella under 
(1830-1848) his arm. He sent his sons to the public schools, and 

578 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1848 



579 



enrolled them as privates in the national guard. He began 
his reign with a promise that the Constitutional Charter 
should "henceforth be a reality," arid he modified it so as to 
make it more acceptable to the nation. But the lower classes 
were little better off than they had been before. The number 
of voters was still small, being only about 200,000 in a popu- 
lation of 30,000,000. Only the larger property owners — the 
rich bankers, merchants, and manufacturers — really profited 
by the change. 

The republicans were naturally aggrieved that they gained 
so little from the revolution. They demanded a more liberal 
voting franchise, which should give poor men the ballot ; ^^^^ ^^_ 
but their demand was refused. "France has made a revo- tivity of the 
lution," said Guizot (ge-zo'), who was one of the ministers, ^®^" ^^^^^ 
"but she has no intention of placing herself in a permanently 




Caricature of Louis Philippe 



revolutionary state." The republicans thereupon plotted 
against the new government. They had little money ; but they 
had young, resolute, and intrepid leaders, who possessed the 
confidence of the working classes. They formed powerful secret 
societies, modeled on that of the Carbonari. The government 
prosecuted these societies, but as fast as one was destroyed 
another arose to take its place. Through the press, too, the 
republicans sought to arouse the people to a consciousness of 
their wrongs. They attacked the king in caricatures, one of the 
most famous of which represented him with a stupid face shaped 
like a pear. In four years one paper was prosecuted more than 
a hundred times for political libel. 



580 FRANCE AFTER 1830 

The growth of industry in France, in this period, was a power- 
ful factor in increasing the importance of the common people. 

706. Influ- Railroads were beginning to be introduced into France. 
IndusWal^ Iron works sprang up, and in the eastern part of the king- 
Revolution dom factories flourished for the manufacture of thread 

and cloth. By 1847 there were five thousand steam engines 
and three and a half million spindles at work. The number of 
patents for new inventions, which under the Napoleonic empire 
was not more than one hundred a year, rose about 1844 to two 
thousand a year. The change in the methods of production, 
in France as elsewhere, increased the population of the towns, 
and led to the growth of an industrial class as distinguished from 
the peasantry. Soon the workingmen began to form labor 
unions, in defiance of the law, to enforce their demands for 
higher wages and better working conditions. Disputes between 
employers and workmen then arose, which took on a political 
color. Strikes against long hours and low pay were transformed 
into risings against the government, which was controlled by 
the capitaHst class. In 1832, and again in 1834, insurrections 
broke out at Paris and at Lyons. Six attempts were made to 
assassinate the king. In spite of severe repressive laws, the 
importance of the working classes steadily increased. 

After frequent changes of ministry, two statesmen — each 
noted also for his historical writings — became rivals for political 

707. Guizot leadership. Guizot upheld a system similar to that 

prime mm- j^^jj^tained by the Tories in Great Britain, under which 

ister (1 040- -' 

1848) the king, subject to the limitations of the constitution, 

should actually rule. Thiers (tyar), his opponent, summed up 
his views in the maxim, "The king reigns, but does not govern." 
In 1840 Guizot secured an ascendancy over his rival which for 
seven years he preserved unshaken. A steady majority upheld 
his measures in the Chamber of Deputies, but it was a majority 
secured (as were those in the British House of Commons under 
George III) by grants of offices and corrupt means. The coun- 
try prospered, however, and the monarchy of Louis Philippe 
seemed secure. 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1848 581 

As events proved, this security rested on no solid basis. The 
nation as a whole chafed at what was called spiritless yielding 
to England on questions of foreign policy. The Catholic party 
resented the control of the state over education. The moderate 
Liberals were angered by the refusal of any electoral reform. 
The worldng classes were exasperated by the leanings of the 
government to the capitalist classes. In this condition of dis- 
content, a slight conflict between the people and the government 
sufficed to bring on the Revolution of February, 1848. 

The Liberals planned, by holding a series of ''reform ban- 
quets" throughout the country, to arouse public opinion in 
favor of enlarging the voting franchise. At these banquets 
the toast "to the king!" was sometimes omitted. 708. Out- 
Louis Philippe declared that he would never yield to Revolution 
the demands that were made, and the Chamber of of 1848 
Deputies passed resolutions to the same effect. Finally a great 
banquet was planned to be held at Paris on February 22. The 
government forbade this banquet, together with the procession 
through the streets by which it was to be preceded. The Lib- 
erals then gave up their plans, but a crowd of workingmen and 
students gathered in the streets and shouted for "Reform." 
Riots broke out, with singing of the Marseillaise and plundering 
of gun shops. The national guard of Paris, composed chiefly of 
small shopkeepers, refused to march on the insurgents. "The 
first day's outbreak was a riot by the reform party against' 
Guizot ; the second was a revolt of the republican parties against 
the monarchy." Some twenty of the rioters were killed on the 
evening of the second day. The bodies of the slain were there- 
upon mounted on carts and exhibited to the people with demands 
for vengeance. 

Louis Philippe finally dismissed Guizot. When this step failed 
to pacify the people, he abdicated in favor of his infant grand- 
son. This sacrifice also was in vain. Under pressure of 709. Abdi- 
the Parisian mob, a republic was proclaimed, on February j^J^^^ 
24 ; and a National Assembly, to be elected by manhood Philippe 
suffrage, was called to draw up a constitution. Louis Philippe 



582 FRANCE AFTER 1830 

retired ingloriously to England, where he died two years later. 
The Revolution of 1848, in the words of a Frenchman of that 
day, "was of all our revolutions the shortest and the least 
bloody ; yet, far more than any other, it filled the minds and 
hearts of men with the idea and feeling of its omnipotence." 
Again, as in 1830, the movement was confined almost entirely 
to Paris, the provinces merely accepting the result when it was 
accomplished. 

It was the republicans who had overturned Louis Philippe, as 
they formerly had overthrown Charles X. But they were far 
from constituting a majority of France, and moreover were 
divided into two opposing camps. The Moderate Republicans 
were satisfied with a political revolution, which should establish 
a democratic republic based on universal suffrage. The Social- 
ists, on the other hand, demanded a social revolution also, which 
should better the condition of the working classes. 

Socialism was the outgrowth, in part, of the new industrial 
world, with its factory system, produced by the Industrial 
710. Growth Revolution. In part it was also due to the development 
of socialism q{ these ideas of liberty, equality, and fraternity which 
were a heritage from the great French Revolution. Socialists 
differ among themselves on many questions ; but they unite 
in demanding that the means of production (that is, the land, 
■mines, factories, etc.) shall belong to the state and not to pri- 
vate capitalists. The Socialists protested against the hard life 
of the working classes, and held the capitalist employers re- 
sponsible for their long hours of labor, low wages, unhealthful 
lodgings, and unwholesome food. They proposed to do away 
with the capitalist class, and to establish "national work- 
shops " in which the state should employ the laborers, under 
more wholesome conditions. 

The workingmen now had arms in their hands, and for a time 
were able to impose their will upon the provisional government. 
The working day was reduced by law from eleven hours to ten 
hours in Paris, and from twelve hours to eleven hours in the 
country. A decree was passed which recognized the obligation 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1848 583 

of the state to provide work for its citizens. Another decree 
provided for the establishing of "national workshops," in ac- 
cordance with the Socialists' demands. But instead of set- „^^ jj^g 
ting the unemployed to working each at his trade, all were national 
employed with pick and shovel in railroad work and in ""^^ ^ °^^ 
making fortifications. Thousands of persons who were out of 
employment flocked to Paris, and the number employed at the 
public works increased in two months from 6000 to 100,000. To 
meet the increased expenditure, new and unpopular taxes were 
imposed. The work, moreover, was soon cut down to two days 
a week. The "workshops" as thus established were not in any 
sense a fair trial of socialistic principles, but were "intended 
expressly to discredit them." 

The Socialists had few adherents outside of Paris. When the 
National Assembly met, in April, it set about putting down these 
radicals. It ordered the "workshops " to be closed and the 712. Social- 
workmen sent back to the provinces. The Socialists there- suppressed 
upon erected barricades and revolted. There followed the (June, 1848) 
bloodiest street battle that even turbulent Paris had ever known. 
Only after four days' fighting was the government victorious. 
About 11,000 captured insurgents were shot or were transported to 
the French colonies. As an organisation the Socialist party came 
temporarily to an end. The result of these confhcts was a legacy 
of bitter hatred (existing to the present day in France) between 
the working class, who lean to socialism, and the bourgeoisie 
(boor-zhwa-ze'), or middle class. The latter class is composed 
largely of shopkeepers and small capitalists, who are very con- 
servative and bigoted. 

On November 4, 1848, the National Assembly proclaimed its 
new constitution, — that of the Second French Republic. It pro- 
vided for a president, elected for four years by manhood 713. The 
suffrage, and a single legislative chamber. In the new l^'^^^^jj _ 
government a great deal would depend upon the character public pro- 
of the first president. The Assembly, however, did not claimed 
take the simple precaution of declaring ineligible members of 
the families which formerly had reigned over France. 



584 FRANCE AFTER 1830 

Since Napoleon Bonaparte's exile and death, a "Napoleonic 
legend" had grown up which cast a halo about his memory. 
714. Louis Bonaparte's crimes and tyranny were forgotten, and he 
Napoleon came to be regarded by the masses as a patriotic ruler 
president who was pursued by the allies because he loved France 
(1848) too well. His portrait as Emperor was to be found in half 

the peasants' cottages from Flanders to the Pyrenees. In count- 
less village taverns his old soldiers told tales, over their wine, 
of his victorious campaigns. In 1840 Napoleon's remains were 
brought back from St. Helena by the French government, and 
were buried in the Hotel des Invalides, in Paris, with the high- 
est honor. Louis Napoleon, the Emperor's nephew, was now 
heir to the Bonapartist cause. He had already made two ad- 
venturous attempts to seize power in France, but these had only 
brought ridicule upon himself. After years of exile in America, 
in Switzerland, and in England, the Revolution of 1848 enabled 
him to return to France ; and he was elected a member of the 
Assembly which framed the new constitution. Throughout his 
checkered career Louis Napoleon had never lost faith in his 
"star of destiny," and his faith was now to be justified. A 
newly formed Bonapartist party nominated him for the presi- 
dency of the republic, and his was the only name which was 
known to thousands of those who were suddenly given the fran- 
chise. When the election was held (December 10, 1848), Louis 
Napoleon received 5,500,000 votes, while his nearest co-mpetitor 
received only 1,500,000. What this new triumph of the Bona- 
parte family meant, time was soon to reveal. 

B. Louis Napoleon and the Second French Empire 

The election of Louis Napoleon as president excited fears in 

the breasts of sincere republicans, and his course in office did 

Course ^°^ ^^^^^ these. "The name of Napoleon," he declared in 

of Louis October, 1849, "is of itself a program signifying order. 

Napoleon authority, religion, and the prosperity of the people at 

home, with national dignity abroad. This is the policy — in- 



LOUIS NAPOLEON 



585 



augurated by my election — which I wish to see triumph." In 
the tours which the prince-president took into the French prov- 
inces, he was occasionally greeted with the cry, "Long live the 
Emperor!'^ The legislative Assembly meanwhile lost popu- 
larity by so regulating the right of voting that sixty-four per 
cent of the voters in Paris were disfranchised. 

The decisive struggle between Napoleon and the Assembly 
came on a proposal to revise the constitution so as to make 
the president eligible for a second term. The required ^jg_ Napo- 
three fourths majority of the Assembly could not be Icon's coup 
obtained for this change. The friends of the president ® ^ -^ ^^' 
then planned a coup d'etat (coo da-ta')-^ The command of the 
army at Paris was put in the 
hands of ofl&cers devoted to 
Napoleon; and on the night 
preceding December 2, 1851, 
the leading republican and 
royalist members of the As- 
sembly were arrested in their 
beds. The people awoke to 
find decrees posted on the 
walls which declared the As- 
sembly dissolved and universal 
suffrage restored, and called 
upon the voters to ratify the 

action of the president. Those who resisted this high-handed 
act were shot down, transported, or exiled. 

By a vote of 7,400,000 to 647,000 the coup d'etat was ratified 
by the people. Napoleon formed a new constitution, modeled 
on that of the Consulate of 1799, which gave a ten years' 717- He 
term to the president, with practically all power. The emperor 
legislature was composed of (i) a lower house, elected by (1852) 
manhood suffrage "to discuss and vote the laws"; and (2) a 
Senate, appointed by the president for life, which had "predomi- 




Napoleon III 



1 Literally, a "stroke of state." The term is used to describe any sudden and 
violent seizure of power. 



586 



FRANCE AFTER 1830 



III 



nant authority." Exactly one year after the coup d'etat a further 
step was taken. By a popular vote of 7,800,000 to 253,000 the 
prince-president then assumed the title "Napoleon III, Emperor 
of the French." ^ Again the wheel of revolution had swung 
around, and once more a democratic and 
military despotism ruled over France. 

The Second French Empire lasted for 

eighteen years (1852-187 o). Napoleon III 

718 Policy lacked the great Napoleon's genius ; in- 

of Napoleon deed, the French author, Victor Hugo, 

nicknamed him "Napoleon the Little." 
Failing to secure a bride from any of the 
princely houses of Europe, Napoleon in 1853 
married a beautiful Spaniard of noble but 
not exalted birth, the Empress Eugenie 
(u-zha-ne')- She gave charm to the im- 
perial court, but exercised a harmful influ- 
ence in politics.- The whole administration 
was honeycombed with corruption. In the 
final crisis this greatly weakened the empire. 
The policy of the Emperor, as well as the 
economic tendency of the time, combined to 
Great Produce .great material prosperity. 

Between 1850 and 1870 nearly ten 

thousand miles of railways were built 
in France. Manufactures increased rapidly. 
Foreign commerce grew, largely because of suez Canal 

liberal commercial treaties with Great Britain 
and other countries. The Suez Canal, completed in 1869 by 
De Lesseps', a French engineer, revolutionized the commerce of 
the world. By connecting the Mediterranean with the Red Sea, 
it shortened the ocean route from Europe to India by about 



719 

material 

prosperity 




1 The elections were unfair, and the issue presented was clouded ; but there is 
no doubt that a large majority of the French people were willing to try again the 
experiment of rule by a Bonapartist Emperor. The son of Napoleon I, who had been 
brought up in Austria and died in 1832, was regarded as "Napoleon II." 



THE SECOND FRENCH EMPIRE 587 

4000 miles. ^ Joint-stock companies were formed to use the 
savings of small investors in carrying on industrial enterprises, 
and these further increased wealth. The streets of Paris were 
widened and improved so that broad boulevards, spacious 
squares, and imposing buildings took the place of wretched 
houses. Thus the city was made more healthful and beautiful, 
the working classes had employment, and insurrection was 
made more difficult through the widening of the narrow streets 
in which barricades had so easily been erected. The industrial 
progress of the world at large was revealed at the first "universal 
exhibition," or World's Fair, held at London in 1851. Similar 
exhibitions, held at Paris a few years later, gave France an 
opportunity to show her material growth and artistic excellence. 

Napoleon III declared that ''the empire is peace" ; but the 
times and his own policies made his reign a period of European 
war. For forty years there had been no armed conflict Euro- 

between great European Powers. Now Europe saw, in pean wars 
rapid succession, five important wars. These were the ^^ ^^"^ "^^ 
Crime'an War (1854-1856) ; the Franco-Austrian War in Italy 
(1859) ; the war of Austria and Prussia with Denmark (1864) ; 
the Austro-Prussian War (1866) ; and the Franco-Prussian 
War (1870-1871). In the first, second, and fifth of these wars, 
France played a leading part ; and in the other two her interests 
were vitally concerned. 

The Crimean War arose out of the Eastern Question, — that is, 
the question of the political status and future of the lands in- 
cluded in the Turkish Empire. Since the close of the -pj^^ 
seventeenth century, the power of Turkey had steadily Eastern 
declined. Austria and Russia had absorbed large portions ^"^^ ^°^ 
of its territories, while other districts had become independent 
or semi-independent countries through revolt. The Tsar Nicho- 
las I (1825-1855) believed that Turkey was "the Sick Man" of 

iln 1879 De Lesseps imdertook to construct a canal across the Isthmus of 
Panama, but his enterprise proved unfortunate, and the Panama company became 
bankrupt. In 1902 its rights were sold for $40,000,000 to the United States, which 
pushed the work to completion. 



588 FRANCE AFTER 1830 

Europe/ and that arrangements should be made by Great Brit- 
ain, Russia, and the other Powers for a final division of the in- 
heritance. But the British saw in this only a scheme of the 
Tsar to secure Constantinople, and refused to cooperate. Ill 
feeling arose between Napoleon III and the Tsar, because 
Nicholas addressed the French Emperor in letters as "My good 
friend" instead of "My brother," as was customary between 
sovereigns. There was also a quarrel concerning the custody of 
the "holy places" in Jerusalem, in which the French, as the 
official protectors of the Roman Catholic clergy, opposed the 
Russians, the protectors of the Greek clergy. The dispute over 
the holy places was soon adjusted. A further claim of Russia 
to a protectorate over all Greek Christians living under the Sul- 
tan's rule, could not be admitted by the Great Powers, for fear 
of its being used as a pretext for seizing Constantinople. 

In June, 1853, war began between Russia and Turkey on this 
issue. Because of ill will for Russia, and to gain strength at 
home, the Emperor Napoleon (in 1854) took up arms in aid of 
Turkey. Great Britain did the same, because a Russian triumph 
would endanger her interests in Asia. With the hope of gaining 
prestige, Sardinia-Piedmont sent her troops to fight side by 
side with those of Great Britain and France. Thus Russia 
found arrayed against her not only the troops of Turkey, which 
defended the Danube lands, but also the fleets and armies of 
France, Great Britain, and Piedmont. 

The chief seat of war proved to be the peninsula of theCrime'a. 

There, in the strongly fortified harbor of Sebas'topol, where 

722. The enormous war supplies were stored, the Russian Black 

Wa"^i8^4.- ^^^ ^^^^ took refuge. To reduce this fortress, France and 

1856) Great Britain landed a force of 60,000 men (September, 

1854). For nearly a year Sebastopol held out, while cholera, 

famine, and the winter weather — " Generals January and 

1 This famous phrase was used by the Tsar in 1853, in conversation with the Brit- 
ish ambassador to Russia. "We have on our hands," said he, in speaking of Turkey, 
"a sick man — a very sick man.' It will be a great misfortune if one of these days 
he should slip away from us before the necessary arrangements have been made." — 
McCarthy, History of Our Own Times, I, 430. 



THE SECOND FRENCH EMPIRE 



589 



SEA OF 




The Crimea 



February" — ^ terribly thinned the besiegers' ranks. For the 
first time in history, war correspondents kept the people at home 
informed of events, and profoundly moved the English nation 
by describing the sufferings of the army, — much of which was 
chargeable to mismanagement on the part of the English gov- 
ernment. On the other hand, Miss Florence Nightingale, an 
Englishwoman, gained un- 
dying fame by the zeal and 
devotion she showed in 
organizing the nursing of 
the sick and wounded.^ 
In a battle at Balaklava 
(ba-la-klaVa), in the neigh- 
borhood of Sebastopol, 
occurred the " charge of 
the Light Brigade," cele- 
brated in Tennyson's poem. 
In this encounter, owing to a misunderstanding of orders, 673 
men courageously charged the whole Russian army. 
' In 1855, Tsar Nicholas died, and was succeeded by his son 
Alexander II. In September, after a long bombardment, 

Sebastopol was taken by assault. The following terms of '723- Peace 

r „ , . 1 1 ? T. . of Paris 

peace were nnaliy agreed to m a congress held at Pans (1856) 

in March, 1856: — 

1. The territory of the Turkish Empire remained as before. 

2. Russia's claim to a protectorate over the Christian populations 

was disallowed. 

3. The Danube was declared open to the navigation of all nations. 

4. The Black Sea was closed to the war vessels of all powers, and 

Russia and Turkey agreed not to maintain arsenals on its shores. 

5. The Sultan promised reforms in the treatment of his Christian 

subjects — promises which he did not keep.^ 

1 An indirect result of Miss Nightingale's work was the adoption of the interna- 
tional Geneva Convention of 1864, providing for the protection of hospitals and 
ambulances under the red-cross flag in time of war. 

2 After peace was signed, the congress drew up a separate Declaration of Paris 
containing four new rules of maritime law. (i) Privateering was declared abolished ; 



590 FRANCE AFTER 1830 

In 1859 Napoleon III fought a short but decisive war with 
Austria. The purpose of the war was to expel the Austrians 

724. French from Italy and to aid the cause of Italian union. Its 
Austria P^^^ ™ ^^^ unification of Italy will be described in 
(1839) another chapter. Here we need only note that by the 

war France gained two provinces (Nice and Savoy), and 
that Napoleon's victories strengthened his position at home 
and abroad. 

At the end of 1859, the reputation of Napoleon III was at its 
highest point. The world for a time "learned to look to Paris, 

725. De- as it had once looked to Vienna, as to the political oracle 
Napoleon's which should pronounce its fate." This proud position, 
prestige however. Napoleon did not long occupy. A number of 

causes contributed to his decline. 

One of the earliest of these was his interference in the affairs 
of Mexico. Great Britain, Spain, and France all had financial 

726. The claims against that country; and when the Mexican 
^o Mexico Congress voted to suspend for three years the payments 
(1861) due to its foreign creditors, these three Powers (in 1861) 

joined in an expedition to compel the payment of their claims. 
Napoleon III went far beyond his allies in this ma.tter. To 
please the Catholic party at home, he took up the cause of the 
Mexican president's "clerical" enemies, and planned to make 
the Archduke Maximilian (brother of Francis Joseph of Austria) 
Emperor of Mexico. Thereupon Great Britain and Spain with- 
drew their forces. French troops for several years maintained 
Maximilian upon his throne ; but when the Civil War in Amer- 
ica came to an end, the United States, acting on the policy 
of the Monroe Doctrine, demanded that the French army should 
leave Mexico. Accordingly, in 1867, the French troops were 
withdrawn. Maximilian was then overcome and shot by the 

(2) blockades were required to be efiective in order to be valid ; (3 and 4) greater 
protection was given to private property on the high seas (other than contraijand) 
in time of war. These rules were accepted by the European states and became part 
of international law. The United States, remembering the excellent service ren- 
dered by privateers in her wars, refused to agree, though in practice this country also 
has observed them. 



THE SECOND FRENCH EMPIRE 



591 



Mexicans, and public opinion rightly held Napoleon III respon- 
sible for his tragic fate. 

In France itself, meanwhile, important changes were taking 
place. After 1859 Napoleon sought to please the Liberals by a 
series of changes in the French constitution. The lower 727- The 
house of the legislature received the privilege (as was the nmde^Lib- 
practice in Great Britain) of drawing up an " address" in eral (1869) 
answer to the " speech from the throne," thus giving the 
deputies an annual opportunity 
to express their opinions of the 
government's poHcy. Next was 
granted the right of discussion at 
any time. Publication of the de- 
bates in the legislature, fqrmerly 
prohibited, was allowed soor after 
this. The government also re- 
pealed the laws forbidding the 
organization of tradcTunions and 
the holding of political meetings 
Finally (in 1869) it was decreed 
that the ministers, who carried on 
the government in the Emperor's 
name, should be responsible to the 
lower house. By these measures 
the government of the empire, which at first was practically 
absoluit., was changed into a parliamentary monarchy. 

Ir spite of these concessions. Napoleon III steadily lost favor 
with the French nation. In the lower house of the legislature 
the opposition party increased its numbers until, in 1869, ■728. War 
it almost equaled the government party. The fact, how- '^i*^ Prussia 

ov6rtlirows 

ever, which contributed most to Napoleon's decline in Napoleon 
prestige was the growth of the power of Prussia. Here we (1870) 
can only note the bare facts of the history, reserving the full 
account for a later chapter. In 1866 Prussia fought a brilliantly 
successful war with Austria, by which she gained new territory 
in Germany, expelled Austria from the German headship, and 




Caricature of Napoleon III 



592 FRANCE AFTER 1830 

secured that position for herself (§ 767). During this war 
Napoleon adhered to a policy of friendly agreement with Prussia. 
He failed, however, to gain any territorial ''compensation" for 
France to balance these gains, and this discredited him with 
his subjects. Smarting under his ill success, Napoleon in 
1870 allowed himself to be tricked into the Franco-Prussian 
War (§ 771). The result was the decisive defeat of his armies, 
and his own surrender to the Prussians. The victorious Germans 
then invaded France in overwhelming numbers. Paris was 
heroically defended, but after a four months' siege it was starved 
into surrender (January 28, 1871). 

In the face of these reverses the Second French Empire simply 
disappeared. A republic was proclaimed by the people, the Sen- 
ate was abolished, and the lower house of the legislature dissolved 
(September 4, 1870). The Empress Eugenie, who had acted 
as regent at Paris since the beginning of the war, fled to England. 
A temporary "Government of National Defense," of which the 
chief rnembers were Jules Favre (zhiil fa'vr') and Leon Gam- 
betta, carried on the government until the end of the war (Feb- 
ruary 26, 1 871). Napoleon III remained a captive in Germany 
until peace was signed. He then joined Eugenie in England, 
where he died in 1873. The ex-Empress survived him, a lonely 
and pathetic figure, for more than forty years. By these events 
the Bonapartist cause was forever destroyed. 

C. The Third French Republic 

Amid these circumstances — with France smarting under 

the most crushing defeat ever inflicted upon a great nation, and 

729. Pro- its capital in the hands of the victorious Germans — the 

visional Third French Republic was born. A National Assembly, 

government i , rr -n, ^ /n/r i 

formed elected by manhood suffrage, met at Bordeaux (Marcn 12, 

(1871) 1871) to form a provisional government and to negotiate 

terms of peace. Thiers, the one man of prominence who had 
opposed the declaration of war, was chosen " Chief of the Ex- 
ecutive Power," in spite of his seventy years of age. The Govern- 



THE THIRD FRENCH REPUBLIC 593 

ment of National Defense was dissolved. The new government 
under Thiers was established temporarily at Versailles. The 
harsh terms of peace exacted by the Germans included the ces- 
sion of the provinces of Alsace and Lorraine, and the payment of 
a war indemnity of $1,000,000,000. Until this sum was paid, 
German troops were to remain on French soil (§ 776). 

While the German armies were still encamped about the 
capital, a desperate revolt occurred in Paris against the new 
French government. Its causes were the terrible suffer- 730. The 
ings of the people during the siege, their well-grounded j^ Paris 
fears of a monarchist reaction, and the agitations of the (1871) 
Socialists. Its chief promoters were the national guard, who 
had been allowed to retain their arms together with a number 
of cannon which were in their possession. The rebels set up an 
independent municipal government in Paris called "the Com- 
mune." They adopted as their emblem the red flag of the 
Socialists. They called themselves "Jacobins," and returned 
to the traditions of 1793. The revolt broke out on March 18 
(1871) and lasted until near the end of May. Paris now en- 
dured a second siege, by the troops under Thiers's command, 
while the Germans remained neutral. 

On May 21 the government troops entered the city. There 
followed a week of the fiercest civil warfare that history records. 
The residence districts were bombarded, and no quarter was 
given in- the desperate street fighting. Insurgents taken with 
arms in their hands were shot down without ceremony. Mate- 
rially and politically Paris suffered more injury from the Com- 
mune than from the Germans. The Column Vendome (vaN- 
dom'), erected in 18 14 to commemorate the victories of Napoleon 
I, was wantonly destroyed, together with many public buildings. 
The city hall (Hotel de Ville) and part of the palace of the Tuile- 
ries were among the buildings which perished. When resistance 
was at an end, France was in no mood to show mercy. The 
Communards were hunted down relentlessly. More than seven 
thousand were sent as convicts to New Caledonia, in the South 
Pacific Ocean, and thousands more were condemned to impris- 



594 



FRANCE AFTER 1830 



onment at hard labor. The bitter hatred which the working 
classes already felt for the bourgeoisie was further increased by 
this savage cruelty of the capitalist government. 







The Louvre and Tuileries 

A, A, Louvre; B, B, B, Palace of the Tuileries (including parts erected by 
Napoleon III), now occupied by public offices; C, side of Tuileries destroyed 
by fire in 1871, and not since rebuilt. 

With the Commune crushed, the National Assembly turned 
to the business of constitution making. For five years the 
731. Wise future form of the French government was not fixed. A 
majority of the nation, perhaps, wished to maintain the re- 
public, but more than half of the Assembly were monarch- 
They were divided among themselves, however, into three 
groups : (i) the Imperialists, who wished the restoration of the 
Bonapartes ; (2) the Orleanists, who wished the throne restored 
to the line of Louis Philippe; (3) the Legitimists, who wished 
a restoration of the Bourbon line that had been dispossessed in 
1830. The Assembly had been elected without a limit as to 
term of office, and so there was no method short of revolt by 
which the nation could compel it to lay down its power. Thiers 
himself had been a constitutional monarchist of the Orleanist 



rule of 
Thiers 
(1871-1873) 

ists. 



THE THIRD FRENCH REPUBLIC 595 

party, but he loyally upheld the republic as "the system that 
divides us least." He persuaded the Assembly to postpone 
the settlement of the question of the government until France 
was strengthened and prosperity restored. Under his wise 
rule, France recovered rapidly from her disasters. The war 
indemnity was soon paid; and in September, 1873, the last 
German soldiers withdrew from French soil. 

In May, 1873, Thiers was forced to resign his office because 
of the opposition of the monarchists. He was succeeded by 
Marshal MacMahon (mak-ma-oN'), who was elected 732. FaUure 
president with the express purpose of restoring the king- °^ ^ ™°°" 
ship. Of the three monarchical parties (Imperialists, movement 
Orleanists, and Legitimists), the Imperialists were so weak (1873) 
that they could be neglected. The two others now came to an 
agreement. The National Assembly was to recognize as king 
the head of the "legitimate," or elder branch of the Bourbons, 
— the count of Chambord (shaN-bor'), known as "Henry V." 
The head of the Orleans branch was to be recognized as his 
successor. At the last moment, however, the restoration failed. 
The count of Chambord declared that he would restore the 
white flag of the Bourbons, while the Orleanists insisted on 
the tricolor, with which so many patriotic memories were inter- 
twined. This disagreement saved the republic. 

The Assembly then (in 1875) passed a group of "organic 
laws," which (with subsequent changes) are the basis of ^ qq^_ 
the present French constitution : — stitution of 

the Republic 

I. The head of the state is called "the President of the Repub- formed 

lie." ^ He is elected for a term of seven years by the two (1875-1884) 
hbuses of the legislature, voting together. His position is similar 
to that of a constitutional king. He can perform no ex- 
ecutive act except through ministers who are responsible to the 
legislature. The president has the power (with the cooperation 
of the Senate) to dissolve the lower house and appeal to the 
country in a new election. 

' This decision, which implied a continuance of the republic, was reached by a 
majority of but one vote — 353 to 352. 



596 



FRANCE AFTER 1830 



The legislature is composed of two houses — the Senate, and the 
Chamber of Deputies. 

The Senate is composed of 30c members, who are elected for a term 
of nine years by electoral colleges. The electoral colleges are 
composed in part of ofiicials, and in part of members elected 
by the people. At first one fourth of the senators were life 
members, but these are now being replaced by ordinary members 
as vacancies occur. 

The Chamber of Deputies is elected by manhood suffrage for four 
years. The French colonies are represented in it as well as the 




«.«,.-.«- »- «-- ».«'«3«'"«5e»"'!^?«^:T7r 



Facade of the Chamber of Deputies, Paris 
Erected 1804-1807 

home departments. In practice the Chamber of Deputies has 
become the more powerful of the two legislative bodies, making 
and unmaking ministries by its votes, and even compelling the 
president to resign. 

5. The constitution can be amended by an act passed by the two 

houses, meeting together. 

6. The acts passed by the two houses are the supreme law of the land. 

Unlike the United States, France gives her courts no power to set 
aside laM's because they are "in conflict with the constitution." 

The free organization of society created by the first revolution 
was preserved, together with the administrative system of 



THE THIRD FRENCH REPUBLIC 597 

the first Napoleon. To these was now added a moderate con- 
stitution, based on the sovereignty of the people, manhood suf- 
frage, and liberty of the press. 

For a score of years after 1875, the monarchists looked upon 
the republic as provisional, and worked for its overthrow. 
The Catholic clergy generally favored a restoration of 734- Party 
monarchy; but in 1892 a great part of the clergy fnprfnce 
"rallied" to the support of the republic, through the (after 1875) 
influence of Pope Leo XIII. To offset this gain, the Socialist 
party again became a political factor, after those who had taken 
part in the Commune were pardoned (in 1879). 

For some years following 1894, political interest in France 
centered about a Jewish army officer named Dreyfus (dra-fiis'), 
who was tried and condemned on the charge of revealing -pj^g 

military secrets to Germany. Dreyfus's friends claimed Dreyfus 
that his condemnation was the result of a plot formed by ^ 
high army officers who were hostile to the Jews. The brilliant 
novelist Zola took up Dreyfus's cause, and was largely the means 
of securing a new trial for him. In the retrial it was shown that 
much of the evidence against Dreyfus was deliberately forged ; 
nevertheless he was again condemned. The president of the re- 
public then granted him a pardon. Dreyfus's friends continued 
to work for yet another trial, and in 1906 the highest court of 
■ France declared him innocent. He was then promoted to the rank 
of major, and decorated with the cross of the Legion of Honor. 
The questions involved in the Dreyfus case came to be far greater 
than the guilt or innocence of Dreyfus himself. The "affair'- 
became a miHtary, religious, and poHtical question, involving 
the influence in state affairs of the army and of the Catholic 
Church. It created a sort of frenzy in France, which threatened 
the very life of the republic. Its outcome was utterly to dis- 
credit the anti- Jewish party, and to remove from the army the 
officers who were favorable to a royalist restoration. The sep- 
aration of church and state, which was in part brought on by 
the activity of the Catholic clergy against Dreyfus, will be dis- 
cussed in a later chapter (§ 876). 



598 FRANCE AFTER 1830 

At the close of the nineteenth century France occupied a 

place of less political importance than formerly. This was due 

736. France to the more rapid development of the rest of Europe. 

^f the ce^-^ Under Louis XIV the population of France was forty 

tury per cent of that of the Great Powers of Europe. In 1789 

it had fallen to twenty-seven per cent ; and in 1900 it was barely 

ten per cent. The practically stationary population of France, 

due to its low birthrate, is the great cause of its relative 

political weakness. 

In spite of its political decline, France maintains a leading 
place among the nations of the world. Its people are thrifty 
and saving. Its agriculture and its manufactures — especially 
those which call for artistic taste — are flourishing. Its eco- 
nomic wealth is great. In painting, in sculpture, and in archi- 
tecture, there is no nation which is so renowned as the French. 
In literature the French lead the world because of the finished 
form and perfection of their style. In science and in education 
France has advanced under the Third Republic, as it has under 
every preceding form of government. A leading French his- 
Langiois, torian says: "We are proud — and why should we not 
loric Rdle of ^^ ^ — ^^ ^ ^^^ glorious past. We rcjoicc in the atten- 
France, 45 tion which this past secures for us from nations whose 
future seems brighter than ours. And we are confident, lastly, 
that France will remain, by virtue of the sincerity of her efforts, 
one of the forces, one of the lights, and one of the graces of 
humankind." 

IMPORTANT DATES 

1848. The " February Revolution " establishes a republic in France. 

Spread of the revolution to Austria, Hungary, Germany, and 

Italy. 
1851-1852. Louis Napoleon overthrows the French republic and sets 

up the Second Empire. 
1 854-1 856. The Crimean War. 
1859. French War with Austria in aid of Italy. 
1867. French troops forced to withdraw from Mexico. 
1870. War with Prussia; fall of Napoleon III; the Third French 

Republic proclaimed. 



TOPICS AND REFERENCES 599 

TOPICS AND REFERENCES 

Suggestive Topics. — (i) Compare Louis Philippe with Charles X. 
(2) What connection was there between the advance of the Industrial 
Revolution in France and the Revolution of 1848 ? (3) Was the justifi- 
cation for revolution in France in 1848 as great as in 1830? (4) Why do 
you suppose Charles X and Louis Philippe left France so quickly upon the 
outbreak of revolts in Paris ? (5) Why did the French provinces play so 
little part in the Revolution of 1848 ? (6) What ideas of the French Social- 
ists seem to you good ? (7) Did France really wish a republic in 1848 ? 
(8) Was the coup d'etat of 1851 justifiable? (9) Was the domestic policy 
of Napoleon III wise or unwise? (10) Was his foreign policy wise or 
unwise? (11) Why could not Great Britain and France permit Russia to 
exercise a protectorate over the Sultan's Christian subjects? (12) Did the 
Crimean War help in any way to a settlement of the Eastern Question? 
(13) Why did the United States demand the withdrawal of the French troops 
from Mexico ? (14) Do you think the Empire could have continued much 
longer in France, if there had been no war with Prussia? (15) Why was 
the populace of Paris less able to control the government in 1871 than in 1792 
and 1793? (16) Was the treatment of the Communards by the pro- 
visional government wise or unwise? Why? (17) To what did the republic 
owe its continuance in the years 1873 to 1875 ? (^8) Compare the constitu- 
tion of France with the constitution of the United States. (19) What was 
the real importance of the "Dreyfus affair"? (20) Compare the position 
of France in 1800 with its position in 1900. 

Search Topics. — (i) Government of Louis Philippe. Hazen, 
Europe Since 1815, 114-119; Seignobos, Europe Since 1814, 132-136; 
Andrews, Development of Modern Europe, I, 276-314; Fyffe, Modern Europe 
(popular ed.), 699-703. — (2) Early French Socialists. Kirkup, His- 
tory of Socialism, 22-40; Ely, French and German Socialism, 66-71, 74, 108- 
123; Robinson and Beard, Readings, II, 75-78. — (3) The February 
Revolution (1848) in Paris. Hazen, 130-144, 187; Seignobos, 155- 
159; Andrews, I, 336-345; Robinson and Beard, Readings, II, 78-80; 
Miiller, Political History of Recent Times, 186-192. — (4) The National 
Workshops. Hazen, 188-195; Andrews, I, 345-358; Seignobos, 159- 
164; Ely, Socialism, 111-113; Robinson and Beard, Readings, II, 80-84. — 
(5) Louis Napoleon and the Coup d'Etat. Hazen, 127-129, 198-205; 
Andrews, II, 7-41 ; Murdock, Reconstruction of Europe, ch. ii ; Encyclopedia 
Britannica (nth ed.), XIX, 211-216; Robinson and 'E&axA, Readings, II, 
88-94. — (6) De Lesseps and the Suez Canal. Penfield, Present-Day 
Egypt, ch. vi; Encyclopedia Britannica, XYl, 494-496, XXVI, 22-25. — 
(7) The Empress Eugenie. McCarthy, Modern LeaJer^, 25-34; Encyclo- 
pedia Britannica, IX, 885. — (8) The Facts Concerning the Charge of 



6oo FRANCE AFTER 1830 

THE Light Brigade. Murdock, ch. vii; Encyclopedia Britannka, VII, 
452. — (9) Florence Nightingale. Encyclopedia Britannica, XIX, 684- 
685. — (10) The French in Mexico. Hazen, 277-279; Fyffe, 969-971. 

— (11) The Fall of the Second Empire. Hazen, 296-300; Phillips, 
471-475; Fyiie, 1002-1006; Anderson, Constitutions and Documents, 595. 

— (12) The Commune. Hazen, 329-337; Andrews, II, 343-349 ; Seigno- 
bos, 187-194; Coubertin, France under the Third Republic, 17-22; Robin- 
son and Beard, Readings, 11, 211-212 ; Anderson, Constitutions and Documents, 
608-612. — (13) Present Government of France. Ogg, Governments of 
Europe, 304-319; Lowell, Governments and Parties in Continental Europe; 
Encyclopedia Britannica, X, 789-791. — (14) The Dreyfus Case. Hazen, 
358-364; Encyclopedia Britannica, II, 142-144; Robinson and Beard, 
Readings, II, 218-223; Dreyfus, Five Years of My Life. 

General Reading. — In addition to the general histories of Europe in the 
nineteenth century, see Lebon, Modern France, i78g-iSg5 ; Coubertin, 
France Since 1814; Berry, France Since Waterloo. For advanced study, 
see Cambridge Modern History, vols. X, XI, XII, and Hanoteaux, Contem- 
porary France, 4 vols, (covering the years 1871-1882). 



CHAPTER XXXI 

THE AUSTRIAN REVOLUTION OF 1848, AND THE UNIFICA- 
TION OF ITALY 

In this chapter we shall consider (i) the Revolution of 1848 
in the Austrian lands north of the Alps ; (2) the disunited con- 
dition of Italy, and the objects and course of the Revolution 
of 1848 there ; (3) the attaining of Italian unity, and the history 
of Italy since 1870. 

A. The Revolution of 1848 in the Austrian Empire 

The February Revolution of 1848 in France produced a rapid 
series of revolutionary outbursts throughout Europe. The 
progress of Liberal ideas in recent years had prepared the 737. Spread 
materials for these explosions, but it was the news from i^^^q^ o/^'*" 
Paris which supplied the spark. Metternich himself had 1848 
seen that revolution was imminent. "The world is very sick," 
he wrote to a friend in January, 1848; "the one thing certain 
is that there will be tremendous changes." Within a few months 
his prediction was fulfilled. The kings of Holland, Belgium, 
Denmark, and Sweden were forced to heed the demands of 
their peoples for constitutional reforms. Even England was 
threatened with serious disturbances. In Germany there was a 
widespread revolution to further the cause of Liberal reform and 
national union, which will be described in the next chapter. 
Most important of all were the revolutionary movements in 
the Austrian Empire. Here we shall consider only the out- 
breaks in the Austrian lands north of the Alps. In a later 
section we will take up the revolt against Austrian rule in Italy, 
and its bearing on the movement for Italian unity. 

In the Austrian Empire the revolutionary impulse from Paris 

601 



REVOLUTION OF 1848 IN THE AUSTRIAN EMPIRE 603 

combined with (i) the resistance of the Liberals to the iron rule 
of Metternich, and (2) the movements of the different peoples 
of the empire for separate national governments. A glance 738. Condi- 
at the map on page 602 will show how numerous were the Austri*'^ 
peoples — separated by differences of race, of language, Empire 
of religion, and of culture — whom the accidents of history had 
placed under the rule of the Hapsburgs. Eleven distinct lan- 
guages were spoken among them, besides numerous dialects. 
The Germans were the ruling element, giving to the empire its 
capital (Vienna), the royal family, and the official language. So- 
ciety was still feudal and medieval. The nobles were free from 
the jurisdiction of the ordinary courts ; the peasants were still 
in a state of serfdom. An absolute but inefficient government 
was kept in power by a system of rigid censorship, passports, 
and government spies. ^ 

The news of the French Revolution of February, 1848, caused 
a riot of students and citizens in Vienna. They demanded 
freedom of education, of religion, of speech, and of the _,, 

press, together with a representative form of government, revolution 
When the mob gathered about the Emperor's palace, ^'^^'^stria 
shouting "Down with Metternich," that aged minister resigned. 
He escaped from Vienna in a laundry cart, and took refuge in ' 
England. After Metternich's downfall a new ministry was 
formed, which began to draft a constitution for the empire. ' 

The movement of liberalism triumphed temporarily in the capi- 
tal, but there remained the movements for national governments 
on the part of the subject peoples. 

1 "The censorship was exercised with grotesque stupidity. It was still the aim of 
government to isolate Austria from the ideas and speculation of other lands, and to 
shape the intellectual world of the Emperor's subjects into that precise form which 
tradition prescribed as suitable for the members of a well-regulated state. In poetry 
the works of Byron were excluded from circulation, where customhouse officers and 
market inspectors chose to enforce the law ; in history and political literature the 
leading writers of modern times lay under the same ban. Native production was 
much more effectively controlled. Whoever wrote in a newspaper, or lectured at a 
university, ox published a work of imagination, was expected to deliver himself of 
something agreeable to the constituted authorities or was reduced to silence." 
— Fyffe, History of Modern Europe (popular edition), 604. 



6o4 



THE AUSTRIAN REVOLUTION OF 1848 



In Hungary there had long been a movement for a separate 

administration of that kingdom, together with the official use 

740. Revolu- of the Magyar tongue. Under the lead of Louis Kossuth, 

g^y^^Bo^"' ^ brilliant journalist and orator, the Hungarians now in- 

hemia, etc. sisted on Liberal reforms, together with a constitution 

which should make Hungary a sovereign state, independent of 

the rest of the Austrian Empire. A desperate struggle in the 

Italian provinces, Venetia 
and Lombardy, for a time 
engaged all the military 
resources of the imperial 
government. Owing to 
this fact, and to the in- 
surrection in Vienna, the 
Emperor was obliged to 
accede to the Hungarian 
demands, and to grant 
them a responsible minis- 
try, together with free- 
dom of the press, trial by 
jury, and the abolition of 
serfdom. 

The revolutionary 
movement spread also to 
Bohemia, where the 
Czechs (cheks) fought the 
Germans in the streets of Prague. Among the Poles of Galicia, 
and the Croats and other South Slavs, similar national move- 
ments broke out. Everywhere appeared a frenzy of liberalism 
and local national sentiment. At the end of March, 1848, the 
prospects of the reform movements seemed very bright indeed. 
741. Sup- Nevertheless, the revolutions in the Austrian Empire 

pression of failed almost completely. In large part this was due to 
tions (1848- class, religious, and race hatreds among the different 
1849) groups. The Magyars, while seeking national inde- 

pendence for themselves, tried to stifle such aspirations on the 




Kossuth 



REVOLUTION OF 1848 IN THE AUSTRIAN EMPIRE 605 

part of the South Slavs. The Viennese, for their part, wished 
to continue German rule over the Czechs of Bohemia. The 
result was an alliance between the imperial government and the 
Slavs, against the Magyars and the German Liberals. In 
Bohemia the revolution was ended in June^ 1848. October 
saw Vienna reduced to submission, after a cruel bombardment. 

Hungary, which had gained a separate army and adminis- 
tration, was not so easily dealt with. To permit of a new 
regime, the Emperor Ferdinand resigned in December, 1848, 
and his nephew, Francis Joseph, ascended the throne. In April, 
1849, the Hungarians issued a declaration of independence, 
and formed a republican government with Kossuth at its head. 
For a time they almost completely freed their land from Aus- 
trian troops. The rebellion was ended only by the intervention 
of the Tsar of Russia, who in June sent an army of over a hun- 
dred thousand men to aid his Austrian brother ruler. By the 
middle of August the revolution in Hungary was crushed. Kos- 
suth and other leaders escaped to Turkey, where the Sultan, 
with British and French support, gave them refuge. Bloody 
punishments awaited the leaders who fell into Austrian hands ; 
and a rigid repression of all Liberal and national aspirations 
followed. 

The one immediate and lasting reform brought about by the 
revolutions in the Austrian Empire was the sweeping away of 
the remains of feudalism. 

In subsequent sections an account will be given of the two 
wars, with France in 1859 and with Prussia in 1866, by which 
Austria lost her Italian provinces, and was thrust out of all ^^2. Austria- 
participation in German affairs. These serious reverses Hungary 
accomplished what internal revolution had not been able to ®^ ^ ^^ 
effect. To save the Austrian Empire from complete dissolution 
the most far-reaching reforms were necessary. The absolutist 
system of Metternich was abandoned, and constitutional gov- 
ernment took its place. Equality of all persons before the law 
was introduced, with fully guaranteed personal and political 
liberties. Religious liberty, and the separation of church and 



6o6 



THE AUSTRIAN REVOLUTION OF li 



state, are parts of the new system. The poHtical organization 
of the empire long remained unsettled, owing to the existence of 
so many differing peoples, with conflicting national aspirations. 
In 1867, however, the principle of dualism was established, — 
that is, the Austrian Empire was converted into the dual mon- 
archy of Austria-Hungary. Since then Austria and Hungary 
have each a separate constitution, separate parliament, and 
separate administration ; but they have the same sovereign, the 
same ministers for war, finance, and foreign affairs, and send 




Parliament Buildings of Hungary, at Budapest 
Erected in 1866 



the same number of persons (sixty) to a joint council for the 
whole realm (the "Delegations")- 

In Austria, German is the official language; in Hungary, 
Magyar. But in each kingdom there are a number of other 
peoples with separate tongues and national aspirations. The 
"language question" still threatens each with disruption. In 
Austria the oath of office at the opening of the Reichsrath 
(riKs'rat, Parliament) is administered in eight different tongues. 
Provincial diets, subordinate either to Austria or to Hungary, 
have been established in the different provinces (Bohemia, Tran- 
sylvania, Croatia, etc.). Taking the government of the dual 



THE DISUNION OF ITALY 607 

monarchy as a whole, we may say that it is now one of the 
most Liberal on the Continent.^ Since the loss of the Italian 
provinces, and the exclusion of Austria from Germany, Austria- 
Hungary has become more and more a Slavic and Magyar state. 
It has looked for territorial gains to the Balkan peninsula, and 
its influence has become increasingly important in everything 
which relates to the Eastern Question. Whether the Dual 
Monarchy will continue as at present constituted, or whether 
in course of time race hostilities will lead to a new political 
grouping of its territories, time alone can tell. The test will 
come when the venerable Francis Joseph I, who ascended the 
throne in 1848, passes from the scene. 

B. The Disunion of Italy, and the Revolution of 1848 

From the days of the old Roman Empire to the conquests of 
Napoleon Bonaparte, Italy was never effectively United under 
a single rule. The sword of Napoleon for a time broke 743- Napo- 
down the barriers of local jealousies and princely interests, ^"^ ^^~ 
and established his rule throughout the peninsula. His Italian unity 
legislation also for the first time made all classes equal before 
the law. Napoleon's work, however, was overthrown on his 
downfall, and the establishing of Italian unity and independ- 
ence was postponed for more than half a century. 

The treaties of Vienna left Italy (in Metternich's words) "a 
mere geographical expression." It possessed even less union 
than was given to Germany under the German Con- jy.^^_ 

federation. The whole land was parceled out among union after 
small states, each with an absolute government. Venetia ^ ^^ 
and Lombardy were given to Austria, and the neighboring 
duchies of Mo'dena and Parma (map, p. 612) were placed under 
Hapsburg dukes. The kingdom of the Two Sicilies was restored 
to the rule of the Bourbons. The Papal States again came 
under the rule of the Pope. The only prince in Italy (except the 

1 An interesting feature of the Austrian constitution is a provision for punishing 
by fines citizens who do not vote. The same provision exists in Belgium. 



6o8 



THE UNIFICATION OF ITALY 



zini and 
Garibaldi 



Pope) who was not dependent on Austria was the king of Sar- 
dinia-Piedmont, who steadfastly refused to fall in with Metter- 
nich's schemes. The rest of Italy seemed "only an annex and 
prolongation of the empire of the Hapsburgs." "The baton of 
Metternich," wrote the Italian patriot Mazzini (mat-se'ne), 
"governs and directs all the petty tyrants of Italy." Reaction 
was everywhere supreme, and almost medieval conditions were 
restored. The tasks of the future were: (i) the establishing of a 
united Italy free from foreign control; and (2) the winning of 
Liberal constitutional government. 

In 1820 and 1830 isolated revolts broke out, but these were 

easily crushed by Austrian troops. The final attaining of 

745. Maz- Italian unity was the work especially of three great 

men — Mazzini, Garibaldi (ga-re-bal'de), and Cavour 

(ca-voor'). Mazzini has been described as "the prophet 

of Italian unity," and Garibaldi as its "knight-errant," while 

Cavour was the far-seeing practical statesman who crowned 

their efforts with success. Mazzini (1805-1872) was a lawyer, 

philosopher, and journalist of 
Genoa ; but most of his life was 
spent in exile in Switzerland 
and in England. While under- 
going imprisonment near Genoa 
— the first of many trials which 
he endured for Italy's sake — 
he planned a new revolutionary 
organization, which should omit 
the foolish theatrical features 
of the Carbonari (§ 689). His 
new society was called "Young 
Italy." Its motto was "God 
and the People," and its banner 
bore on one side "Unity and 
Independence," and on the 
other "Liberty, Equality, and Humanity." Mazzini's program 
was soon enlarged to include agitation for these principles in 




Mazzini 



THE DISUNION OF ITALY 



609 



every land ; and soci- 
eties called "Young 
Poland," "Young 
Germany, ' ' ' ' Young 
Switzerland," etc., 
were formed on the 
model of the one 
which he organized in 
Italy. Mazzini's ar- 
dent patriotism, he- 
roic self-sacrifice, and 
unconquerable faith 
in the ultimate tri- 
umph of his ideas 
made him a great 
leader of men. He 
influenced most 
strongly the educated 
classes, — lawyers, 
doctors, professors, 

and army officers. Garibaldi (i 807-1 882) early joined the 
Young Italy society. He was forced to flee from Italy after an 
unsuccessful attempt at revolution in Piedmont, in 1834. He 
then spent ten years in South America, playing a romantic and 
honorable part in the civil wars of Brazil and Uruguay. 

Count Cavour (1810-1861) was a nobleman of Piedmont 
who early developed Liberal ideas. These were strengthened by 
frequent visits to Paris and London. The policy of plots 746. Views 
and petty revolts did not appeal to him, and he never °* Cavour 
became a member of the society of Young Italy. He firmly be- 
lieved that political liberty was useless or impossible unless it 
was accompanied by commercial and industrial prosperity. His 
efforts, therefore, were early directed to improving the economic 
condition of Italy. He wrote much on agriculture, railroads, 
and similar subjects. "The railroads," he said, about 1845, 
"will stretch without interruption from the Alps to Sicily, and 




Garibaldi 



6io 



THE UNIFICATION OF ITALY 




Cavour 



will wipe out all the obstacles 
which separate the inhabitants 
of Italy and hinder them from 
forming a great and single na- 
tion." He beHeved that the 
expulsion of Austria from the 
land could be accomplished 
only by an established gov- 
ernment which was recognized 
by the Powers of Europe and 
possessed a regular army. 

At first Italian patriots were 
far from being united in their 
ideas as to the form of govern- 
ment to be set up, or the sort 
of union which they desired. Some wished a limited mon- 
archy; others a democratic republic. Some wanted a union 
747. Pope °^ ^^^ Italy under one head; others wanted a mere feder- 
Pius IX and ation of the existing states against foreign rule. Many per- 
era ism ^^^^ hoped that the union of Italy would be accomplished 
by Pope Pius IX, who ascended the papal throne in 1846. 
These expectations were encouraged by the Pope's releasing 
political prisoners in the Papal States, and by Liberal measures 
of reform and of hostility to Austria. But when the wave of 
revolution swept over Italy in 1848, the Pope abandoned his 
liberalism, and adopted reactionary policies. 

The revolution of 1848 began (even before the outbreak 

in Paris) in Sicily and Naples, where the Liberals rose in arms and 

forced the king to issue a constitution (January, 1848). This 

success, together with the news of the revolutions in France and 

748.Revolu- -Austria, aroused the patriots throughout the peninsula. 

tion of 1848 Milan, Venice, and other Austrian possessions in Italy 

^ revolted. Charles Albert of Sardinia-Piedmont, influenced 

by Cavour, issued a constitution for his kingdom, and declared 

war on Austria. The rulers of Tuscany, Naples, and the 

Papal States were compelled by public sentiment to send troops 



THE ATTAINMENT OF ITALIAN UNITY 



6ll 



to fight under the Italian tricolored flag, raised by Piedmont. 
But soon jealousies and differences of opinion arose, and Naples 
and the Pope withdrew their forces. At Custozza (koos-tod'za) , 
in 1848, the Piedmontese army was defeated by the Austrians, 
and again, in 1849, at No vara (no-va'ra). 

Charles Albert then abdicated. His son, Victor Emmanuel 
II, secured peace with Austria by paying a heavy war indemnity. 

The Austrian rule in 
Lombardy and Venice of the Revo- 
was speedily restored. " **"^ 
In Naples the king overthrew 
the constitution he had 
granted, and crushed the rev- 
olution. In the Papal States 
the revolutionists had set up 
a Roman republic under 
Mazzini and Garibaldi; but 
in June, 1849, a French 
army, sent by Louis Napo- 
leon, defeated the Roman 
republicans, and the abso- 
lute power of the Pope was 
restored. The brilliant re- 
treat of Garibaldi through 
the mountains of central 
Italy was one of the spectacular feats of this struggle, but 
did not change the outcome. Everywhere in Italy the revolu- 
tion failed. Yet the attempt had not been wholly in vain. A 
prince had sacrificed himself for Italian independence, and the 
people had proved their heroism. "Henceforth the National 
cause had a dynasty to represent it, and a people to defend it." 

C. The Attainment of Italian Unity (1849-1870) 

The failure of the Revolution of 1848 left Italy divided as 
before, and garrisoned by foreign troops. The Austrians held 
the northeast, and French troops supported the papal monarchy 




Pius IX 



6l2 



THE UNIFICATION OF ITALY 



at Rome. The kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont alone clung to 
Liberal ideas, a constitution, and the tricolored flag — the em- 
750. Italy blem of Italian unity. It was to King Victor Emmanuel 
after 1848 t^^t Italian patriots thenceforth turned their eyes. 

Unfortunately Victor Emmanuel's subjects numbered less 
than five millions as against the thirty-seven millions of Austria. 




Growth of the Italian Kingdom 



But they had a patriotic and able king; they had an army 
that could fight; above all, they had in Count Cavour a 
minister — one of the greatest of modern statesmen — whose 



THE ATTAINMENT OF ITALIAN UNITY 613 

life was devoted to the work of freeing and uniting Italy. 
From 1849 to 1859 was the period of preparation for Italian 
unity; the years 1859 to 1870 saw its realization. 

For a time Cavour was the most unpopular man in Turin. 
He was hated by radicals for his moderation, and by reaction- 
aries for his liberalism. Gradually Mazzini, the leader 751. Policy 
of the visionary republicans, lost ground, and the true ? p-^^""^ 
greatness of Cavour was recognized. From 1852 until mont 
Cavour 's death, in 1 861, he was (with two short intervals) prime 
minister and almost dictator of the kingdom. He labored un- 
ceasingly for economic prosperity. Liberal reforms, and the mili- 
tary strength of the monarchy. In addition to remodeling taxes, 
he reformed the clergy. The number of monasteries totaled 
604; and there was one ecclesiastic to every 214 inhabitants. 
Belgium and Austria, both strongly Catholic countries, had 
respectively only one priest to 500, and one to 610 inhabitants. 
After a bitter fight, Cavour carried through a moderate reform, 
which abolished the religious orders not engaged in public teach- 
ing, preaching, or nursing the sick. His farsighted statesman- 
ship sent Sardinian troops to take part in the Crimean War 
(§ 721), a step which was described as "a pistol shot in Austria's 
ear." Then, in the congress of Paris, Cavour was enabled to 
bring the cause of Italy before the diplomats of Europe, and to 
pave the way for future action. 

Great Britain was, in general, favorable to Italian hopes, 
but feared to see the peace of Europe again disturbed. Napo- 
leon III, during his adventurous career as a young man, 752. Atti- 
had taken an active part in the plots of the Carbonari to j^aDole n 
free Italy, and still favored that cause. But the Catholic III 
party in France violently opposed any action which might en- 
danger the Pope's temporal power. While Napoleon hesitated, 
a fanatical Italian patriot hurled three bombs at his carriage in 
the streets of Paris (January, 1858), by which 256 persons were 
killed or seriously wounded. Although the Emperor and Empress 
escaped unharmed, this attempt convinced him that his life 
would not be safe unless he redeemed his early vows. In July, 



6l4 THE UNIFICATION OF ITALY 

1858, he secretly agreed with Cavour to join Piedmont in at- 
tacking Austria when a fitting moment came. Austria was 
to be entirely expelled from Italy, and her possessions there 
annexed to Piedmont. In return France was to be given the 
Piedmontese territories of Savoy and Nice, thus extending 
French territory to the Alps, her "natural frontier" on the south- 
east. 

A plausible pretext for war with Austria was needed, and the 

months which followed were the most trying of Cavour's life. 

War in ^^^ skill, working on Austrian stupidity and pride, brought 

northern it to pass that Austria issued an ultimatum (April, 1859) 

Italy (1859) demanding that Piedmont disarm, on pain of war. Cavour 

was radiant with joy. Austria was put clearly in the wrong; 

Napoleon would now be obliged to help ; the other Great Powers 

would remain neutral. 

The war proved short and decisive, lasting less than three 
months. In April an army of Austrians crossed the Ticino 
(te-che'no) River, and invaded Piedmont. The French army 
had already begun to pour over the Alps, and in May the 
French Emperor arrived to take command in person. The allies 
soon drove the Austrians out of Piedmont, and at Magen'ta 
inflicted upon them a severe defeat. This was followed by 
a second victory, after a fiercely fought battle, at Solferino 
(s61-fe-re'no). Garibaldi, meanwhile, hberated the Alpine part 
of Italy as far as the frontier of Tyrol. ^ 

The complete expulsion of Austria from Italy now seemed 
certain. But Napoleon III was alarmed at the hostile attitude 
which Prussia was taking ; moreover, he did not want to make 
Piedmont too strong. In July he suddenly deserted his ally, 
and entered into negotiations for peace at Villafranca.^ When 
Victor Emmanuel found that he Was deserted by the French, 
he could only resign himself to join in "the infamous treaty" 

1 Between 1849 and 1859 Garibaldi had spent several years in New York City, 
engaged in commerce, and had accumulated a small fortune. 

2 Read James Russell Lowell's poem entitled "Villafranca." It well expresses 
the indignation felt by Liberals the world over at this betrayal. 



THE ATTAINMENT OF ITALIAN UNITY 615 

which was signed (at Zurich) in November, 1859. Its terms were 
the following : — 

1. Lombardy was annexed to Piedmont, but Venetia was left to 

Austria. 

2. The rest of Italy was to be restored to the condition in which 

it was at the opening of the war. 

3. A scheme of Italian confederation was proposed under the 

presidency of the Pope. 

The last two provisions of the treaty could not be carried out. 
All central Italy had revolted from its rulers and sought union 
with Piedmont; and after the peace Napoleon did not ob- 754- King- 
ject to Piedmont's annexation of those territories. As a f "^^^e^ ^ 
result, Tuscany, Parma, Modena, and the northernmost (1860-1864) 
of the Papal States were all peacefully added to Victor Emman- 
uel's kingdom. In return, Victor Emmanuel reluctantly ceded 
to France the provinces of Nice and Savoy, the cradle of the 
Piedmontese monarchy. The annexation of the kingdom of 
Sicily and Naples followed soon after, as the result of a success- 
ful revolution carried out by Garibaldi, with Cavour's secret as- 
sistance. With a thousand "red-shirts," Garibaldi landed in Sicily 
(May, i860), and was received by the people with open arms. In 
August he crossed over to the mainland. By September Naples 
was in his hands, and he was planning to march upon Rome, to 
overturn the temporal power of the Pope. The sound states- 
manship of Cavour saw that Europe was not ripe for this step, 
and he sent Piedmontese troops to check his too zealous ally. 
In February, 1861, the struggle came to an end with the sur- 
render of the last of the Bourbon kings of Naples. Already 
Sicily and Naples had declared, by overwhelming votes, for 
union with Piedmont; and in March, Victor Emmanuel II was ■ 
proclaimed king of Italy. 

Except Venetia and the patrimony of St. Peter (as the district 
immediately about Rome was called), the whole of the peninsula 
was at last consolidated under one rule (map, p. 612). Italy 
ceased to be "a mere geographical expression," and took its 



6i6 



THE UNIFICATION OF ITALY 




Victor Emmanuel II 



place as one of the nations of Europe. To this end many per- 
sons had contributed, with heroic courage, high endeavor, and 
noble self-sacrifice. But the 
genius which mastered all and 
brought the work to a success- 
ful issue was that of Cavour. 
Three months later (in June, 
1861), he died, worn out before 
his time by his labors. 

For the completion of Italian 
unity King Victor Emmanuel 
was largely indebted to Prussia. 

755. Italian In 1 866 he joined with 
rf^te/°™" ^^^^ kingdom in the war 
(1870) which crushed Austria's 

power (§ 767); and in reward 
for this assistance he received 
Venetia, the last considerable 
district held by Austria south 

of the Alps. Four years later the Franco-Prussian War (§ 772) 
gave Victor Emmanuel opportunity to seize Rome, which for 
a thousand years had been ruled by the Popes. The French 
troops which had there supported the Pope were now with- 
drawn for use elsewhere. The Piedmontese troops were re- 
ceived with cheers by the Roman people; and not one of the 
Great Powers raised its voice in serious protest. Thenceforth 
Rome was the capital of a united kingdom of Italy. 

An attempt was made to come to a friendly arrangement with 
the Pope. A liberal annuity was offered him, together with the 

756. Sub- right to keep up in the Vatican the rank of a sovereign 
sUion'Hf ttie prince. But Pius IX would not consent to the loss of the 
papacy temporal power of the papacy. Throughout the rest 

of his life he remained a voluntary "prisoner" in the Vatican, 
refusing to set foot outside its gardens. The policy which he 
adopted has been closely followed by his successors. The pa- 
pacy has remained unreconciled to its loss of Rome, and this 



THE ATTAINMENT OF ITALIAN UNITY 617 

attitude has hampered the Italian government in many ways. 
But in spite of the loss of its temporal power, the position of the 
papacy has never been higher than it is to-day. To many minds 
this seems partly due to the fact that the Pope's position is no 
longer complicated by the local cares of an Italian prince.^ 

The present constitution of Italy is an expansion of that 
granted by Charles Albert to his kingdom in 1848: — 

1. The king exercises his executive authority through ministers «„-_ Present 

who are responsible to Parliament. constitution 

2. The Parliament is composed of two chambers, one nominated °^ ^^^^ 

by the king, and the other elected by the people. 

3. The franchise was at first limited to adult male citizens who 

could read and write, and who possessed certain additional 
educational or property qualifications. In 191 2 manhood 
suffrage was adopted, thus increasing the number of voters 
from 3,000,000 to 8,000,000. At the same time, payment for 
members of Parliament was introduced. 

For ten years after the complete unification of Italy, questions 
of debt and institutional development occupied the government. 
Then came fifteen years (1881-1896) devoted to the devel- 738. Italy 
opment of railroads and public works; and to attempts to ^^^'^^ ^^^o 
secure external prestige through increase of the army and navy, 
and through an unsuccessful war with Abyssinia (1895-1896), 
and colonial ventures of doubtful value on the African shore 
of the Red, Sea. After 1896 the burden of public debt led to 
soberer policies. King Humbert I, who succeeded his father in 
1878, was assassinated by an anarchist in 1900, and his son, 
Victor Emmanuel III, came to the throne. In 1908 the world 
was horrified by an appalling earthquake in Sicily, which de- 
stroyed the city of Messina, and killed 150,000 persons. The 
war with Turkey, by which Italy in 191 2 acquired the province' 
of Tripoli in northern Africa, will be described in a later chapter 
(§ 830). 

1 The great Vatican Council in 1870, just a few months before the Pope's loss of 
temporal sovereignty, proclaimed his ofiScial decisions "on questiqns of faith and 
morals" to be infaUible. 



6l8 THE UNIFICATION OF ITALY 

Notwithstanding many hindrances to national progress, much 
has been accomplished for Italy. Brigandage has in large meas- 
ure been suppressed. Waste lands have been brought under 
cultivation, and malaria decreased by extensive drainage sys- 
tems. Many miles of state railroads have been built. A sys- 
tem of public education has been established, which extends 
from elementary schools to the universities. As a result, illit- 
eracy, which is one of the curses of Italy, decreased from 73 
per cent of the adult population in 1871, to 56 per cent in 1901. 
Modern manufactures, though late in arising, have developed 
rapidly in recent years, especially in the north. But the 
burden of the national debt is still crushing, and Italy re- 
mains the most heavily taxed country in Europe. This in 
part accounts for the great number of its inhabitants who 
emigrate to other lands, especially to the United States. In- 
dustrial and political discontent, moreover, is widespread ; and 
strikes and labor disturbances are incessant and are complicated 
by Socialist agitations. To check the growth of the radical party. 
Pope Pius X in 1905 practically abolished the church rule by 
which good Catholics were forbidden to vote in parliamentary 
elections. The permanence of the Italian kingdom is as- 
sured, but the future of no other great power of western 
Europe is clouded with so many unsolved problems. 

IMPORTANT DATES <, 

1846. Pius IX becomes Pope. 

1848. Revolution put down in Austria and Bohemia; Francis Joseph I 

becomes Emperor of Austria. 
1848. Revolution in Italy put down by Austria; Victor Emmanuel II 

becomes king of Sardinia-Piedmont. 
1852. Cavour becomes prime minister of Sardinia-Piedmont. 
1859. Napoleon III aids Sardinia in wresting Lombardy from Austria, 
i860. Most of central Italy gained. 

1861. Naples and Sicily annexed ; kingdom of Italy proclaimed. 
1866. Venetia added to kingdom of Italy. 
1870. Rome taken from the Pope ; Italian unity completed. 



TOPICS AND REFERENCES 619 

TOPICS AND REFERENCES 

Suggestive Topics. — (i) How do you explain the wide spread of the 
revolutionary movements in 1848? (2) Compare the aims of the revolu- 
tionists in Vienna with those in Hungary and Italy. (3) Why did the 
revolution in the Austrian lands fail? (4) Why should Russia intervene 
to aid Austria in Hungary? (5) Why did the events in Paris in 1 870-1871 
find no echo in Austria-Hungary? (6) W"hat did the first Napoleon con- 
tribute to the cause of Italian unity ? (7) How did Mazzini aid the move- 
ment? (8) What did Garibaldi do to further it? (9) What did Cavour 
contribute? (10) Why did the movement to drive the Austrians out win 
greater success in 1859 than in 1848? (11) Why was the movement for 
Italian unity finally successful? (12) Why did Victor Emmanuel seek to 
win Rome for his capital ? (13) Why did the Pope resist ? (14) Compare 
Italy's position in 1900 with its situation in 1850. 

Search Topics. — (i) Kossuth. Thayer, Throne Makers ("Kossuth"); 
Encyclopedia Britannica, XV, 916-918; Kossuth, Memories of my Exile. — 
(2) Revolution of 1848 in the Austrian Empire. Hazen, Europe Since 
181 5, 152-159, 1 69-1 8 1 ; Andrews, Development of Modern Europe, I, 363- 
373; Phillips, Modern Europe, 289-308. — (3) Present Government of 
Austria-Hungary. Ogg, Governments of Europe, 456-474, 489-500; 
Encyclopedia Britannica, III, 2-3 ; Robinson and Beard, Readings, IJ, 
165-168, 171-175. — ^(4) Mazzini and Young Italy. Hazen, 159-164; 
Andrews, I, 205-213; Stillman, Union of Italy, 44-48; Cesaresco, Libera- 
tion of Italy, ch. iv; Robinson and Beard, Readings, II, 115-118. — (5) 
Garibaldi. Hazen, 232-236; M-Mrdoc^., Reconstruction of Europe, ch.. %m; 
Cesaresco, Liberation, ch. xiv; Robinson and Beard, Readings, II, 126- 
128. — (6) Cavour. Hazen, 215-239; Andrews, II, 91-114; Thayer, 
Throne Makers ("Cavour"); Cesaresco, Cavour. — (7) How Cavour 
Brought on War in 1859. Phillips, 366-370; King, Italian Unity, II, 
56-67; Cesaresco, Liberation, ch. xi; Mazade, Cavour, 186-193. — (8) 
Vatican Council of 1869-1870. Encyclopedia Britannica, XXVII, 947- 
951 ; Catholic Encyclopedia, XV, 303-309. — (9) Present Government 
OF Italy. Hazen, 374-380 ; Ogg, 365-381 ; Encyclopedia Britannica, XY , 
19. — • (10) Economic Condition of Italy. Encyclopedia Britannica, XV, 
8-14, 80-81; Robinson and Beard, Readings, II, 138-141. 

General Reading. — The best general accounts of the Revolution of 
1848 in Central Europe are in Hazen, Andrews, Fyffe, and Phillips. For 
Austria-Hungary since 1849, see Colquhoun, The Whirlpool of Europe. The 
best histories of the attainment of Italian unity are by Bolton King, 
Cesaresco, Stillman, and Probyn. Trevelyan's various works dealing with 
Garibaldi are fascinatingly written. For present conditions in Italy, see 
King and Okey, Italy To-day. 



CHAPTER XXXII 
THE UNIFICATION OF GERMANY 

A. The Revolution of 1848 in Germany 

The Revolution of 1848, which broke out first in France and 
whose influence in Austria and in Italy has been traced in the 
preceding chapter, profoundly disturbed Germany also. As in 
Italy, the movement in Germany had two objects : (i) to secure 
Liberal and democratic reforms in the separate German states ; 
(2) to unite all Germany into a single national union. 

The German Confederation, which was established by the 
Congress of Vienna, was in many ways similar to the government 
759. Weak- of the United States under the old Articles of Confedera- 
many° after" ^^°^- ^'^ important measure could be passed in the Diet 
181S without the unanimous vote of all the thirty-eight states. 

Its members were without individual freedom in voting ; they 
were mere delegates, sent by their governments with precise 
directions, and were obliged to ask instructions before each vote. 
The result was that no important measure was ever passed by 
the Diet. In addition, the Confederation had no organized 
executive, and no means of enforcing its rulings upon the sep- 
arate states. The Diet was only a council of representatives of 
the federated princes, under the presidency of Austria. It in 
no way represented the sentiments of the German people. 
. Hence the movements for Liberal reforms and national union 
did not center in the Diet, but rather in the universities, for 
which Germany was famed. 

In Germany, as in the United States, it was the need of regu- 
lating commerce which caused the first step towards union 
Prussian ^° ^^ taken. The accident that Prussia ruled many 
Zoliverein scattered territories, with a thousand miles of frontiers, 

620 



THE REVOLUTION OF 1848 IN GERMANY 



621 



made a Zollverein (tsol'fer-In ; customs tariff union) a matter 
of importance for her. By 1854 Prussia succeeded in including 
in such a union the whole of southern and central Germany, 
with the exception of Austria. The states belonging to the Zoll- 
verein abolished all customs duties on their trade with one an- 
other, and agreed upon a common tariff in their trade with 
foreign countries. Railroads were developing rapidly in Ger- 
many in this period, and the Zollverein enabled its states to 



2{ O R T H SEA 




wo i3o sib 
|;:^Vv:| Zollverein in 1834 
I Additions up to 1851 



German Zollverein (1834-1854) 

reap full benefit from the commerce which railroad building 
stimulated. At the same time, this commercial union exerted 
a powerful influence towards uniting Germany politically under 
Prussian headship. 

The news of the February Revolution of 1848 in Paris, and the 
fall of Metternich in Austria, caused great excitement 761. Revo- 
throughout Germany. Risings occurred in the great cities, jg'g j^^ 
particularly in Munich (mu'nik) and Berlin. In the Prussia 
latter city barricades were erected, and street fighting occurred 



62 2 THE UNIFICATION OF GERMANY 

which caused the death of several hundred citizens (March, 
1848). The kind-hearted but arbitrary and vacillating king, 
Frederick William IV, ordered the soldiers to withdraw from 
the city, and he donned the revolutionary colors — the old 
black, red, and gold of the inedieval Empire. He also sum- 
moned an assembly which drew up a constitution for Prussia. 
This constitution was later (1850) modified by the king 
into a very conservative instrument; nevertheless it was im- 
portant because it made Prussia permanently a constitutional 
state. 

At the same time an impetus was given to the movement for 

German unity. In May, 1848, a "constituent parliament," 

762. Move- elected by manhood suffrage from the different German 

mentfor states, met in the city of Frankfort, on the river Main. 

German ... . , 

unity (1848- Its purpose was to draw up a constitution for a united 
1849) Germany. Its members were chiefly university professors, 

lawyers, and journaHsts. The two great questions which con.- 
fronted it were : (i) What territories should be included in 
the new Germany? (2) Who should.be its head? On the first 
point the question especially was whether Austria should be 
allowed to bring into the new union her non-German provinces, 
with their 38,000,000 inhabitants, thus enabling her to over- 
balance the 32,000,000 of Germany proper. The second point 
involved a decision as to whether Austria or Prussia should be 
the head of the new state. The "parliament" at last decided 
(i) that Austria should be admitted with her German provinces 
only ; and (2) that the crown of the new German Empire should 
be offered to the king of Prussia. Unfortunately, neither 
Austria nor Prussia would agree to these proposals. Austria 
was now regaining control of her revolted provinces and was thus 
free to act decisively in Germany. To the proposals of the 
Frankfort "parliament" she announced curtly that she "would 
neither let herself be expelled from the German Confederation, 
nor let her German provinces be separated from the indivisible 
Austrian monarchy." The king of Prussia, for his part, was 
afraid of war with Austria in case he accepted the headship of 



BISMARCK AND THE WAR WITH AUSTRIA 623 

the new empire. For this and other reasons he declined the 
perilous offer of the Frankfort assembly. 

This refusal wrecked the whole plan for union, and caused 
the breaking up of the Frankfort "parliament." The revolu- 
tionary party was then put down in all the German states, ^ j^g 
and German unity was postponed for twenty years. To failure 
escape punishment many of the revolutionary leaders fled ^^ '^^^ 
to foreign lands. The United States thus gained many valuable 
citizens, among whom was Carl Schurz (shoorts), who for fifty 
years honorably served his adopted country. Austria speedily 
regained her lost ascendancy, and Prussia made a humiliating 
submission at Ol'miitz (1850). The old Confederation of 1815 
was restored, completely under Austrian influence. ,; 

B. Bismarck and the War with Austria (1861-1866) 

In 1 86 1 William I succeeded his brother, Frederick William 
IV, as king of Prussia. The humiliation of Prussia at Olmiitz 
had burned deep into his patriotic soul. His chief aim 764- Aims 
became the expulsion of Austria from the German Con- and Bis-™ 
federation, and a union of Germany under Prussia. But marck 
the accomplishment of these ends was largely the work of his 
minister. Otto von Bismarck. The latter was a statesman of 
commanding genius and relentless will. "From the beginning 
of my career," Bismarck once said, "I have had but the one guid- 
ing star : By what means and in what way can I bring Germany 
to unity?" Bismarck had served for a time as the Prussian 
envoy in the Diet at Frankfort. This service had taught him 
that Austria was the chief enemy to Prussian greatness and to 
German unity, and that ultimately Prussia would have to fight 
her. In 1862 Bismarck became the chief minister of Prussia. 
From that time until his dismissal from office, in 1890, he played 
the largest part in shaping German destinies. 

Bismarck was an aristocrat of the aristocrats. He was a 
stanch upholder of the theory that monarchs rule "by the grace 
of God " and not by the will of the people. The hope of German 



624 



THE UNIFICATION OF GERMANY 



of " blood 
and iron " 



unity, he believed, lay not in Liberalism but in Prussia's mak- 
ing itself a great military power. He wished to secure a re- 
765. Policy organization of the Prussian army, together with increased 
armaments. To accomplish this, Bismarck was obliged 
for four years to wage an unceasing conflict with the 
shortsighted Liberal majorities of the Prussian Diet, who re- 
fused the necessary ap- 
propriations. With 
brutal frankness Bis- 
marck declared, in his 
first speech to the Diet, 
''The unity of Germany is 
to be brought about, not by 
speeches nor by votes of 
majorities, but by blood 
and iron.'' With indomi- 
table courage and inflex- 
ible will he forced the 
Prussian people to sub- 
mit to his direction. At 
times he even overrode or 
hoodwinked the king him- 
self.i 

Bismarck's first oppor- 
tunity to use the reorgan- 
ized army came in 1864. 
In that year a war was successfully waged by Prussia and 
766. The Austria jointly against Denmark, in the interest of the 
Danish War Germans of Sleswick and Holstein (hol'stin) who were 
under Danish rule. As a result of the war, these 
two duchies were taken temporarily under the joint rule of 
the victors. From this situation the adroit and unscrupulous 

1 The army system adopted was practically that which now prevails throughout 
the German Empire. Every healthy young man was required to serve for three 
years in the active army, followed by four years in the reserve. In this way every 
able-bodied German man was trained as a soldier, and Prussia could put in the field 
on short notice an eflScient army of 400,000 men. 




Bismarck 



(1864) 



BISMARCK AND THE WAR WITH AUSTRIA 625 

diplomacy of Bismarck, — by steps too intricate to be here re- 
lated, — succeeded (in June, 1866) in bringing forth, his long- 
contemplated war with Austria. 

In this contest Austria was supported by all the South Ger- 
man states (including Saxony), and by Hanover and some other 
states of North Germany. To most observers, it seemed 767- Seven 
that Prussia must surely be crushed. Italy, however, had ^-^^ Austria 
secretly promised aid to Prussia, and in return was to be (1866) 
given the Austrian province of Venetia. The Prussian army was 
armed with breech-loading "needle guns " ; while the Austrians, 
in common with the rest of Europe, still used muzzle-loaders, 
in which no improvement had taken place since the beginning 
of the century, excepting the substitution of the percussion cap 
for the old fhnt lock. Above all, the Prussians had in Roon, 
the minister of war, and in Moltke (molt'ke), the general in 
the field, men who in their spheres were as able as Bismarck 
was in diplomacy. 

The thorough preparations of the Prussians gave them from 
the beginning the advantage over their opponents. Within 
three days the Prussians occupied three hostile German states. 
Within seven weeks the war was over. On the eve of the decisive 
battle, Moltke joined the army in Bohemia, together with the 
king, Bismarck, and Roon. On July 3 the Austrians were over- 
whelmingly defeated in the battle of Koniggratz (ku-niK-grets'), 
or Sadowa (sa'do-va). "Your majesty has won not only the 
battle," said Moltke to King William, "but the campaign." 

With wise moderation Bismarck checked the demands of the 
mihtary authorities, and offered Austria a liberal peace. Vene- 
tia alone was taken from her, and given to Italy. Prussia made 
no territorial gains from Austria ; but she did annex Sleswick- 
Holstein, together with the North German states which had 
fought against her. These included Hanover, Hesse-Cassel, 
Nassau, and the free city of Frankfort (map, p. 631). The 
rulers of these states protested bitterly, but without avail. 
Austria was obliged to pay a large war indemnity, and to con- 
sent to a reorganization of Germany with Austria left out. 



626 THE UNIFICATION OF GERMANY 

For a time the new organization took the form of a North 
German Confederation, which included all the states of Ger- 

768. The many except Austria and the four South German states 
North (Bavaria, Wiirttemberg, Baden, and Hesse-Darmstadt). 
Confedera- A strong federal government was given to the new union, 
tion (1867) radically different from that of the old German Confedera- 
tion. The four South German states soon entered voluntarily 
into a secret military alliance with the new federal state. 

At last the objects of Bismarck's policy were understood. 
From being the most hated man in Germany he became the 
most popular. The chief influence which for centuries Austria 
had exercised in German affairs, was gone forever. Prussia 
was fast becoming the heart and the head of a new and united 
German nation. 

C. The Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871) 

Napoleon III in this crisis had ''committed every error which 
it was possible to commit." He had counted on making his own 

769. Atti- profit out of a war between powers which seemed practi- 
Doleon III ' <^^lty equal. But to his amazement Prussia had crushed 
(1866-1867) Austria, and was uniting Germany. French statesmen 

now saw in Prussia a rival for that ascendancy in Europe which 
France had enjoyed for two hundred years, and Napoleon's pres- 
tige suffered serious decline. But in 1866 France was too unpre- 
pared, and too disorganized by the Mexican expedition (§ 726), 
for Napoleon to go to war. He contented himself with demand- 
ing, therefore, that France be allowed to "compensate" herself 
for Prussian gains by seizing territories on the left bank of the 
Rhine, or by conquering Belgium. Bismarck believed that war 
with France was not only inevitable, but necessary to German 
union ; so he skillfully blocked, in turn, each of Napoleon's 
"compensation" projects. Cajoled, thwarted, humiliated, 
France burned to avenge herself on the "upstart Prussians." 
What seemed a fitting occasion was soon at hand. 

In 1869 a Liberal revolution brought the reign of the Bourbon 



THE FR.\N CO-PRUSSIAN WAR 



627 



queen of Spain to an end, and it became necessary to find 
a ruler to take her place. After repeated attempts, Prince 
Leopold of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen (zig'ma-ring-en), 770. Hohen- 
one of the petty princes of southern Germany, was induced ^"^j^j^cv 
(in July, 1870) to become a candidate, subject to the ap- for Spanish 
proval of King William as head of the Hohenzollern house. *^'"^® 
This choice caused, a storm of indignation in Paris. The French 
minister of foreign affairs 
said in the French Chamber 
that the proposal "put in 
peril the interests and honor 
of France"; and he added 
that the government "would 
know how to fulfill its duty 
without hesitation and with- 
out feebleness." This threat 
of war naturally inflamed the 
people of both Germany and 
France ; and Prince Leopold 
withdrew his name. The 
French foreign minister then 
required a promise from the 
Prussian king that he would 
never in the future permit 
the prince to renew his candi- 
dature. This request, when presented to King WilHam at 
Ems, through the French ambassador, was politely but firmly 
refused. 

In all this there was no real cause for war. But Bismarck 
was anxious for war, and took steps to bring it about. The 
telegram which stated the facts of the interview at Ems 771. Bis- 
reached Bismarck at Berlin, while he was at dinner with ^JJ^^^^j^g 
Moltke and Roon. "As I read it to them," said Bis- Ems dis- 
marck later, "they were both actually terrified, and ^^^^^ 
Moltke's whole being suddenly changed. He seemed to be 
quite old and infirm. It looked as if our most gracious majesty 




William I 



628 THE UNIFICATION OF GERMANY 

might knuckle under after all. I asked him (M'oltke) if, as things 

stood, we might hope to be victorious. On his replying in the 

Busch Bi'- affirmative, I said, ' Wait a minute ! ' and, seating myself 

marck, I, at a Small table, I boiled down those two hundred words 

304; ,174 ^Q about twenty, but without otherwise altering or adding 

anything. It was the same telegram, yet something different — 

shorter, more determined, less dubious. I then handed it over 

to them, and asked, ' Well, how does that do now ? ' ' Yes,' they 

said, 'it will do in that form.' And Moltke immediately became 

quite young and fresh again. He had got his war, his trade." ^ 

The dispatch, thus altered, was interpreted in the press to 

mean that the ,king had been insulted and had snubbed the 

772. France French envoy — which was not the case. In both Berlin 

war%^y ^^^ Paris the war spirit rose to fever heat. To Thiers 

1870) and others who opposed war, on the ground that France 

was not sufficiently prepared, the French minister of war gave 

the assurance that the army was ^' ready to the last gaiter 

button." The French prime minister declared that he accepted 

the responsibility "with a light heart " ; and' on July 19 France 

declared war. Never did a great state rush more blindly to its 

own destruction. 

France stood alone in the war, while Prussia was assisted by 
the South German states, as well as by the North German 
Su- Confederation. The Prussian armies showed the same 
periority of thorough preparation and energy which had brought 
Prussia success in 1866. The French armies, when put to the test, 

were found greatly lacking. In arrangements for supplying 
and transporting troops, in generalship, and in the spirit which 
animated officers and men, the Germans were superior. In 
courage the French equaled them, and they had equally good 
breech-loading rifles, and the first of machine guns. These 
advantages, however, could not make up for their other weak- 
nesses. It was France instead of Germany that was invaded, 
Paris instead of Berlin that was taken. 

1 Compare the original dispatch, and Bismarck's condensation of it, in Ander- 
son's Consliltitions and Documents, pp. 593-594. 



THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR 629 

Soon after hostilities began, the French were defeated (at 
Worth) after a bloody contest, and were forced to fall back 
from the frontier. A series of battles followed, ending ^„ Sedan 
in a desperate struggle at Gravelotte (grav-lot')- The campaign 
result was that the two French armies were prevented ^^ '^° 
from uniting, and one of them, numbering 170,000 men,^ took 
refuge in the strongly fortified city of Metz. Leaving a force 
to besiege this place, the main German army turned westward 
after the second French army, under General MacMahon, 
whom they found at Sedan'. There, on September i, was fought 
"one of the decisive battles of the world — a battle that re- 
sulted in the surrender of the largest army ever known to have 
been taken in the field, a battle that dethroned a dynasty and 
changed the form of government in France." MacMahon was 
defeated and surrounded by an overwhelming force. Next 
day his army of 100,000 men, together with the Emperor Napo- 
leon, surrendered. France was left without an army in the 
field. 

After Sedan, the Germans advanced on Paris, and began 
the siege of that city (September 19, 1870). The French capi- 
tal was one of the most strongly fortified cities in the world, „^^ gjg g 
and great efforts had been made to provision it. Com- of Paris 
munication with the outside world was kept up during the '^°~^ 
siege, by means of carrier pigeons and balloons. Gambetta, a 
member of the Committee of National Defense, escaped from 
the city in a balloon, and worked with fierce energy (but in 
vain) to organize new armies and to rescue Paris. The com- 
mander of the French army at Metz, who was incompetent 
and disloyal, surrendered in October, thus setting free more 
German troops to use about Paris. In December, after long 
delays, the bombardment of the city's defenses began. The 
sufferings of the Parisians during the five months that the 
siege lasted were appalling. Dogs, cats, and rats were eaten ; and 
fuel gave out. Only when the city was face to face with actual 
starvation, did it surrender (January 28, 1871). 

Before peace could be concluded, a recognized government 



630 THE UNIFICATION OF GERMANY 

was needed in France to take the place of the empire, which 

776. Peace ^^^ been overthrown (§ 728). To furnish this, a Na- 
of Versailles tional Assembly was called at Bordeaux, and the aged 
( e ., I 71) 'pjjjgj.g ^g^g chosett hcad of the state (§ 729). At Versailles 

(February 26, 1871) the following prehminaries of peace were 
signed : — 

1. France agreed to cede to Germany the greater part of the 

provinces of Alsace and Lorraine, including the fortified cities of 
Metz and Strassburg. 

2. She also agreed to pay a war indemnity of $1,000,000,000. 

3. Until the indemnity was paid, German troops were to remain 

garrisoned in France. 

On March i the Germans marched in triumph through Paris. 
The result of the harsh terms of peace was a French hatred for 
Germany, which has scarcely yet lost its bitterness. 

D. The New German Empire 

The victory over France was the last influence needed to 
complete the union of Germany. After much negotiation 

777. Ger- Bismarck's skillful diplomacy overcame both the disin- 
Moclaimed^ clination of the kings of Bavaria and Wiirttemberg to sur- 
(Jan., 1 871) render their independence, and the Prussian king's ob- 
jections to some details. On January 18, 1871, in the hall of 
the French royal palace at Versailles, the result of the negotia- 
tions was made known by the proclamation of the new German 
Empire. The constitution adopted was that framed for the 
North German Confederation, in 1867, with merely incidental 
alterations. It is still the constitution under which Germany 
is governed, its chief provisions being the following : — 

I. The number of states included in the empire is twenty-five, with 
one imperial territory (Alsace-Lorraine). The list includes 4 
kingdoms, 6 grand duchies, 5 duchies, 7 principalities, and 3 free 
cities. Each of these states has its separate state government, 
subordinate to that of the empire. 



si: > 


S 7; 


K 2 


\D DUGHIES 

Baden 

Hesse 
enburg-Schwe 
burg-Strelitz 


NGDOMS: 
Prussia 
Bavaria 
Saxony 
urttemberg 


? 5' 3 

n > CO 
H 2! 




632 



THE UNIFICATION OF GERMANY 



The king of Prussia is hereditary "German Emperor," with full 
direction of military and foreign affairs. 

The Federal Council (Bundesrat) is a council of ambassadors ap- 
pointed by the separate states. It oversees the administration, 
and initiates most legislation. The states are represented un- 
equally in it. Prussia, which contains three fifths of the popu- 
lation of Germany, has 17 votes out of a total of 61 ; Bavaria has 
6, Saxony and Wiirttemberg 4 each, and the other states fewer. 

The Diet of the empire, called the Reichstag (riKs'taK), is the rep- 
resentative chamber of the legislature. It is composed of 397 




Reichstag (Parliament) Building, Berlin 



members, of whom Prussia elects 236. The members are elected 
by manhood suffrage for a term of five years ; but the Emperor 
may (with the consent of the Bundesrat) dissolve the Reichstag 
at any time and order new elections. 
5. The administration of the empire is in the hands of a ministry, 
headed by the imperial chancellor. Unlike the ministers of true 
parliamentary governments, the German ministers are respon- 
sible to the Emperor, and not to the legislative chamber. They 
do not need, therefore, to resign their ofi&ces when defeated in the 
Reichstag. 

From 1 871 until 1890 the post of chancellor of the empire 
and chief minister of Prussia was held by Bismarck. In the 



THE NEW GERMAN EMPIRE 633 

first half of this period occurred the " Kulturkampf " (kool- 
toor'kampf). This was a conflict between the Roman Catholic 
Church and the Prussian government over the control 778. The 
of education and church appointments. Similar con- , "5" 
flicts occurred in Bavaria, Austria, Switzerland, France, (1871-1890) 
and Belgium. They were occasioned in part by the action of 
the church Council of the Vatican, in 1870, in proclaiming as 
a dogma of the church the infallibility of the Pope in matters 
concerning the faith and morals. Bismarck expressed his 
confidence of victory in the sentence, "We shall not go to 
Canossa." In the course of the struggle laws were passed to 
expel the Jesuits and other Catholic religious orders from Prussia, 
a;nd to transform the .bishops and priests into state officials. 
A powerful Catholic party was formed in the Reichstag to com- 
bat these measures; and at length Bismarck, wearied by the 
contest, caused the obnoxious laws to be gradually repealed. 

Other important features of Bismarck's administration were 
(i) the passing of laws to put down the Socialists, who were 
beginning to show marked strength in Germany; and (2) Work- 

the enacting of measures to provide pensions under govern- ing class 
ment control for laborers disabled by accident, sickness, ®sisation 
or old age. The purpose of the latter measures was to draw off 
the working classes from socialism. "Give the workingman 
the right to employment as long as he has health," said Bis- 
marck in a speech to the Reichstag. "Assure him care when he 
is sick, and maintenance when he is old. If you will do that, 
without fearing the sacrifice, then I believe the Socialists will 
sound their bird-call in vain. As soon as the workingmen see 
that the government is deeply interested in their welfare, the 
flocking to the Socialists will cease." The laws to put down the 
Socialists failed to accomplish their object. The measures 
to aid the working classes have done much good, but they also 
have failed to prevent the growth of the Socialist party (§ 907). 

In March, 1888, the Emperor William I died, at the age of 
ninety-one. He was succeeded by his son Frederick, who, 
however, was suffering from a mortal disease, and lived only 



634 



THE UNIFICATION OF GERMANY 



until June, 1888. His son, William II, then ascended the throne. 
William II soon showed great energy and self-confidence, 

780. Acces- a high sense of the imperial office, and a capacity for 
wniiam II astonishing the world by feats of brilliancy. He wished 
(1888) to take a larger personal part in the administration than 

his two predecessors. Bismarck, however, insisted that the 
ministers of departments should communicate with the emperor 

only through the chancellor. 
As a result of this difference 
of views, Bismarck was sud- 
denly dismissed from his office 
in 1890, and passed into rest- 
less retirement on his country- 
estates, where he died in 1899. 
Under William II a vigorous 
foreign policy has been pur- 
sued, with many royal jour- 
neys and visits to neighboring 
monarchs. The army has been 
fostered and a powerful navy 
founded, and new measures 
have been passed for improv- 
ing the condition of the work- 
ing classes. 

The greatest feature of Ger- 
many's recent history has been 
her amazing industrial development. Her flourishing industries, 

781. Ger- together with her military and naval power, now make 
dustriii^'^' ^^^ ^^^ leading state on the Continent of Europe. In 
growth part this growth is the natural result of the Industrial 

Revolution. In part it is due to the patient thoroughness 
with which Germany — far beyond any other country — has 
applied to manufacturing the results of chemical and physical 
research, in which the German universities lead the world. 
In part it is a result of the fostering care of the state and im- 
perial governments. 




William II 



THE NEW GERMAN EMPIRE 635 

Until 1879 Germany followed a free trade policy in her com- 
mercial relations with foreign nations. In that year Bismarck 
introduced the system of high tariffs, to protect and foster 
German industries. "Both France and America," he said, 
"have completely forsaken free trade. Austria, instead of re- 
ducing her protective duties, has increased them; Russia has 
done the same. No one can expect Germany to remain perma- 
nently the victim of its sincere belief in the theory of free trade. 
Hitherto we have thrown our doors wide open to foreign goods, 
and so have made our country the dumping ground for all the 
overproduction of other countries. Let us close the door, and 
erect the somewhat higher barriers that are proposed; let 
us see to it that we secure, at any rate, the German market 
for German manufactures." This policy has been continued 
by William II since Bismarck's fall. 

The German manufacturers have secured not only their home 
market, but also a large share in the markets of the world. The 
commercial supremacy which Great Britain so long enjoyed is 
now threatened by German competition. In iron manufactures 
and in the manufacture of chemicals, Germany leads all nations. 
In porcelains, woolen and cotton textiles, and a host of other 
products she has secured an enviable place. German shipping 
has grown apace with manufactures ; and a beginning has been 
made in the acquisition of colonies — especially in Africa (§ 837) 
— as outlets for German trade. Capital has accumulated rap- 
idly, and German banking and financial houses have attained 
international importance. Germany's population has grown 
from 41,000,000 in 1871 to 60,000,000 in 1905 — largely through 
the creation of a strong and wealthy middle class, with numer- 
ous employees engaged in manufactures and commerce. 

The political development of Germany, however, has failed 
to keep pace with the growth in importance of the middle 782. Prob- 
and working classes ; and this failure is one of the causes ^®™^ °* 

d6iiiocr9.cv 
of the unrest shown by the growth of the Socialist party, and social- 

At present the German people counts for less politically i^m 
than in any other country of western Europe. Although all 



636 THE UNIFICATION OF GERMANY 

men twenty-five years of age have the right to vote, the elec- 
toral laws are such as to give a great advantage to the upper 
classes, especially the landowning nobles. The Socialists are 
the most numerous of all the half dozen or more German parties. 
In the elections of 1907 their vote was more than double that 
of the Conservative party ; ^ but they elected only 43 members 
to the Reichstag, as against 83 elected by the Conservatives. 
A reform of the electoral law is one of the things which is urgently 
needed. With this goes a demand also for the introduction 
of the cabinet system of government, by which the imperial 
ministers shall become responsible to the Reichstag, and not 
merely to the Emperor. 

IMPORTANT DATES 

1848. Revolutionary outbreak in Berlin ; Frankfort Parliament meets. 

1849. Failure of the revolution in Germany. 

1861. William I becomes king of Prussia. 

1862. Bismarck becomes chief Prussian minister. 

1866. Seven Weeks' War with Austria. 

1867. North German Confederation formed. 

1870. Franco-Prussian War begun. 

1871. Peace of Versailles; German Empire proclaimed. 
1888. Accession of Emperor William II. 

1890. Bismarck dismissed from office. 

TOPICS AND REFERENCES 

Suggestive Topics. — (i) Compare the German Confederation after 1815 
with the old Confederation of the United States. (2) Why did the move- 
ment for national union fail in 1 848-1 849? (3) What gains did Germany 
make by the attempt at revolution? (4) What did Bismarck mean by 
his policy of "blood and iron"? (5) How did the war with Austria con- 
tribute to the attainment of German unity? (6) Which side was respon- 
sible for the Franco-Prussian War? (7) Was Bismarck's alteration of the 
Ems dispatch justifiable? (8) Why was Prussia successful in this war? 
(9) Where should the blame be placed for the failure of the French in the 
war? (10) Why were harsher terms of peace imposed on France in 1871 
than on Austria in 1866? (11) How did the war enable Bismarck to com- 
plete the formation of the German Empire? (12) Compare the constitu- 
1 For more recent election results, see § 907. 



TOPICS AND REFERENCES 637 

tion of the Empire with that of the United States. (13) Were Bismarck's 
measures for the domestic government of Germany wise or unwise ? Why ? 

(14) Did Emperor WiUiam II do right in dismissing Bismarck from office? 

(15) What explanations are there for Germany's great industrial growth in 
recent years? (16) What is the significance of the growth of the Socialist 
party in recent German elections ? 

Search Topics. — (i) Revolution OF 1848 in Germany. Hazen, Europe 
Since 1815, 173-174, 183-186; Andrews, Development of Modern Europe, 
I, 379-384; Henderson, Short History of Germany, II, 348-352. — ^(2) 
Character and Work of Bismarck. Hazen, 240-256 ; Thayer, Throne 
Makers ("Bismarck"); Munroe Smith, Bismarck and German Unity ; 
Headlam, Bismarck; Encyclopedia Britannica (nth ed.), IV, 5-8. — (3) 
The Seven Weeks' War with Austria. Henderson, II, 404-406; 
Hazen, 256-271; Fyffe, Modern Europe (popular ed.), 948-956; Robinson 
and Beard, Readings, II, 144-155. — (4) The Ems Dispatch. Henderson, 
JI, 419-422; Robinson and Beard, Readings, II, 158-159; Anderson, Con- 
stitutions and Documents, 593-594. — (5) Battle of Sedan. Hender- 
son, II, 43^-437; Murdock, Reconstruction of Modern Europe, ch. xxvi; 
Rose, I, ch. iii; Robinson and Beard, Readings, II, 160-161. — (6) Siege 
OF Paris. Henderson, II, 439-442, 445-446; Murdock, ch. xxviii, xxx; 
Robinson and Beard, Readings, II, 208-210. — (7) Proclamation of the 
German Empire. Henderson, Short History, II, 447-450; Rose, I, 153- 
157; Fyffe, 1014-1016. — (8) Government of the Empire. Ogg, Gov- 
ernments of Europe, 210-228; Robinson and Beard, Development of Modern 
Europe, II, 130-134; Encyclopedia Britannica, XI, 816-818. — (9) The 
Kulturkampf. Hazen, 306-309; Andrews, II, 370-375; Robinson and 
Beard, Readings, II, 178-185. — (10) Social Reforms in Germany. 
Hazen, 312-318; Rose, I, 178-183; Ogg, Social Progress, ch. xviii; 
Dawson, Bismarck and State Socialism, 23-36, 72-127; Robinson and 
Beard, Readings, II, 185-192. — ^ (n) Industrial Development of Ger- 
many. Ogg, Social Progress, 115-119, 123-124; Encyclopedia Britannica, 
XI, 811-816. — (12) Dismissal of Bismarck. Hazen, 322-323; Robin- 
son and Beard, Readings, II, 200-203. 

General Reading. — On Bismarck, in addition to the works cited above, 
see Busch, Bismarck: Some Secret Pages of History. Sybel, The Founding 
of the German Empire (7 vols.) , presents the official view ; Malleson, Refound- 
ing of the German Empire, 1848-1871, is briefer, but deals mainly with 
military events. For the Franco-Prussian War, see the histories by Moltke 
and by Maurice. The history since 1870 is dealt with by Andrews in a 
volume entitled Contemporary Europe, Asia, and Africa (History of all 
Nations series). For Germany's industrial development see Dawson, 
Evolution of Modern Germany, and Howard, Recent Indtistrial Progress of 
Germany. 



CHAPTER XXXIII 

GREAT BRITAIN IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 

A. Political and Social Reforms 

Great Britain is the only state in Europe which went through 
the nineteenth century without an armed revolution. Though 

783. No the framework of her constitution remained unaltered, 

armed revo- j^g practical operation was profoundly changed. At the 
lution in _ . . . , . • 1 i i 

Great begmnmg of the century the government was in the hands 

Britain of the great landowners, who were members of the estab- 

lished church. At its end power was shared by them with the 
middle class, the workingmen, and the agricultural laborers, 
and offices were open to men of all religious faiths. In the 
Dickinson, words of an English political writer, "Power has been 
Parliament transferred from the control of a compact and vigorous 

in the Nine- . r ^ ^ • ^ • r , J^^ l 

teenth Cen- anstocracy to that of a democracy, which in tact, thougn 
tury, I not in outward form, is more complete and more uncon- 

trolled than any at present existing in any first-class state." 

The transfer of power to the more democratic elements in 
the state was largely the work of the Industrial Revolution 

784. Influ- (chapter xxviii). Only in the nineteenth century did the 
fndustrial^ far-reaching political and social effects of those indus- 
north trial changes begin to be apparent. The north of England, 

where manufacturing centered because of its supplies of iron 
and coal, became the most populous, the wealthiest, and the 
Boutmy, most influential part of the kingdom. "A new England 
Constitution ^^^ added to the old," says a French writer. "It was' 
186 as if a new land had been upheaved from the sea, and 

joined on to the shores of some old-world continent." In reli- 
gion this new England was the stronghold of Dissent, that is, 
of those Protestant sects not included in the established Church 

638 



POLITICAL AND SOCIAL REFORMS 639 

of England. In politics it was the chief center of liberalism, 
and even of those more advanced ideas which we call radicalism. 
The long and disastrous reign of George III ended in 1820. 
He was succeeded in turn by his two sons, — George IV (1820- 
1830), a dissolute and incompetent ruler; and William 785- British 
IV (1830-1837), a bluff and erratic prince who, as a younger f^ Ae^i^oth 
son, had been trained for a naval career. William IV, century 
like his brother, died without legitimate children. The crown 
thereupon passed to his niece, Queen Victoria (1837-1901), who 
at the time of her accession was still a girl of eighteen.^ She 
had been prudently trained by her mother, the widowed duchess 
of Kent, and from the beginning of her reign showed intelligence 
and goodness of heart. The crown of Hanover, which had been 
joined in personal union with that of Great Britain since 17 14, 
passed to her uncle, the duke of Cumberland, as the nearest 
male heir. Throughout her life Victoria took a keen interest 
in German affairs. In part this was due to her mother's Ger- 
man birth, to her own happy marriage (1840) to Prince Albert 
of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, and to the marriage of her eldest 

1 The following table shows the family of George III and of Queen Victoria : — 
(i) George III (1760-1820) 



(2) George IV Frederick, (3) Willtam IV Edward, Ernest, 


(i820^[83o) Duke of York 


(1830-183 7) Duke of Kent Duke of Cumberland 




k 


1^^1827; 


~" ' (d. 1820) (K. of Hanover 






1 1837-1851) 






(4) Victoria 






(1837-1901) 






m. Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (d. 1861) 


Victoria, 


(5) Edward VII Alice, 


Alfred, Helena, Louise, Arthur, Leopold, Beatrice 


m. Freder- 


(igoi-igio), m. 


Duke of m. m. Duke Duke m. 


ick, Crown 


m. Alexandra Prince Edin- Prince Marquis of Con- of Prince 


Prince of 


of Denmark of 


burgh of of naught Albany of 


Prussia, 




Hesse 


and Angus- Lome, Batten- 


later 






later tenburg later berg 


German 






of Saxe- Duke of 


Emperor 






Coburg Argyle 



(6) George V (1910- ) Louise, Victoria Maud 

m. Victoria Mary of Teck m. Duke of Fife m. Prince Charles of Denmark 



(King Haakon VII of Norway) 



Edward Albert, Albert Victoria Henry George lohn 

Prince of Wales 



786 

lie emanci- 
pation 

(1829) 



640 GREAT BRITAIN IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 

daughter to the crown prince of Prussia, later himself German 
Emperor and father of Emperor William II. 

Each of these three British reigns saw important steps taken 
in the peaceful transformation of the constitution. Under 
Catho- George IV laws were passed which at last put Catholics 
practically on an equality with their Protestant fellow 
subjects. Something had been done in this direction in 
the eighteenth century, when unjust laws prohibiting Catholic 

worship and limiting their 



civil rights were repealed. 
Catholics, however, were 
still shut out of Parlia- 
ment and high political 
office (§493). The move- 
ment under George IV 
was to complete " Catholic 
emancipation" by re- 
moving these disabilities. 
After much agitation, 
Daniel O'Connell, an elo- 
quent Catholic lawyer, 
organized a widespread 
Catholic Association in 
Ireland. He was elected 
to the House of Commons 
with the avowed purpose 
of testing the right of a Catholic to sit in that body. To deny 
him his seat would have precipitated an Irish rebellion. Con- 
sequently the duke of Wellington and Sir Robert Peel, who 
were then the leaders of the government, gave way. In 1829, to 
the great disgust of their Tory followers, they secured the passage 
of a bill admitting Catholics to seats in Parliament and to nearly 
all offices in the state.^ 




Victoria in 1837 



1 The laws forbidding Protestant dissenters to take political office had been re- 
pealed the preceding year (1828). Jews, however, were not permitted to sit in 
Parliament until 1858. 



POLITICAL AND SOCIAL REFORMS 641 

A far more important step was the passage, in 1832, of the 

first Parliamentary Reform Act. The members of the House 

of Commons, as we have seen, were of two sorts, — county 787. Par- 

(or shire) representatives, and borough (or town) repre- liamentary 

• T~^ 1 nil rcprcs6iita- 

sentatives. ±.very county, large or small," had two mem- tion before 

bers.^ The right to vote for county representatives was ^^32 
restricted to the small class of persons who owned what was 
called "freehold" land, a qualification which excluded the 
larger part even of prosperous farmers, whose lands were usually 
"copyhold" or "leasehold." The Scottish county of Bute, 
with a population of fourteen thousand persons, had only 
twenty-one electors. It is related that, at one election, only 
a single elector appeared ; he forthwith took the chair, moved 
and seconded his own nomination, cast his vote, and declared 
himself unanimously elected. The boroughs were represented 
usually by two members each (a few had only one), and there 
had been practically no change in the list of boroughs since the 
days of Charles II. Many populous manufacturing towns, 
such as Birmingham, Manchester, and Leeds, which were out- 
growths of the Industrial Revolution, were without representa- 
tion. On the other hand, many places which had lost their 
former importance, or even (like Old Sarum) were without any 
inhabitants at all, continued to send members to Parliament. 
The seats of such "rotten" or "pocket" boroughs were often 
publicly sold by the landlord, or (in some boroughs) by the 
voters themselves. The qualifications for the franchise in the 
boroughs varied greatly, in some only the small governing 
body — a close corporation — having the right to vote. In a 
House of Commons of 658 members, not more than one 
third were the free choice of even the limited bodies of 
electors that had the franchise. More than one third of the 
members owed their seats to the influence of members of the 
House of Lords. To sum up, there were two great defects : 
(i) Large parts of the kingdom had no direct representation 
in the House of Commons. (2) The great majority of the 
1 Except Yorkshire, which was given two additional members in 1821. 



642 GREAT BRITAIN IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 

adult male population had no voice in the elections to that 
body. 

To remedy these defects, plans for parliamentary reform had 
been proposed in the latter half of the eighteenth century. But 
during the gigantic ' struggle with Revolutionary France, all 
projects of reform were stopped by the fear lest Great Britain 
also might be led into revolution. With the return of peace, 
reform projects again began to obtain a hearing. The advent 
of the Whig party to power (in 1830), after twenty-four years' 
exclusion, facilitated their triumph. 

Lord John Russell played the chief part in securing the passage 
of the first Parliamentary Reform Act. After many attempts 
788. Re- ^^ piecemeal reform, he introduced a general Reform Bill 
form Act of in the House of Commons in March, 1831. At an im- 
32 passe pQj-i^aj^i; stage of its progress, the bill was carried by a 
majority of only one vote.^ The ministers then procured a dis- 
solution of Parliament. The new elections gave them a great 

1 The historian Macaulay, who was a member of this House of Commons, gives 
an excellent account in one of his letters of the excitement which prevailed on this 
occasion. "Everybody was desponding," he wrote. '" We have lost it ! I do not 
think we are two hundred and fifty ; they are three hundred.' This was the talk 
on our benches. As the tellers passed along our lowest row the interest was insup- 
portable. 'Two hundred and ninety-one, two hundred and ninety-two — ' We' 
were all standing up, and stretching forward, telling with the tellers. At 'three 
hundred' there was a short cry of joy; at 'three hundred and /wo,' another. We 
knew that we could not be severely beaten. The door was thrown open and in they 
came. First, we heard that they were three hundred and three ; then that number 
rose to three hundred and ten ; then went down to three hundred and seven. We 
were all breathless with anxiety, when Charles Wood, who stood near the door, 
jumped up on a bench and cried out: 'They are only three hundred and one!' 
We set up a shout that you might have heard to Charing Cross, waving our hats, 
stamping against the floor, and clapping our hands. 

"No sooner were the outer doors opened, than another shout answered that 
within the House. All the passages and stairs were thronged by people who had 
waited till four in the morning to know the issue. We passed through a narrow 
lane, between two thick masses of them ; and all the way they were shouting and 
Waving their hats, till we got into the open air. I called a cabriolet, and the first 
thing the driver asked was, 'Is the bill carried?' 'Yes, by one !' 'Thank God for 
it, sir ! ' And away I rode to Gray's Inn ; and so ended a scene which will prob- 
ably never be equaled till the reformed ParHament wants reforming." — Trevelyan, 
Life and Letters of Macaulay, 1, 187-188 (condensed). 



POLITICAL AND SOCIAL REFORMS 643 

majority in the Commons. The Reform Bill now passed that 
house without difficulty, but was rejected by the House of Lords 
(199 to 158). This produced a great outburst of popular excite- 
ment. The lords were mobbed when they appeared, on the 
streets, and even the bishops (who had voted unanimously with 
the other peers in rejecting the bill) were subjected to abuse. 
Riots broke out in many parts of the country, with burning of 
castles and the release of prisoners from the jails. England 
seemed on the brink of a popular revolution such as those with 
which France was familiar. 

There yet remained one weapon of a constitutional sort to 
use against the aristocratic upper house. The Reform Bill 
was passed a second time by the House of Commons and again 
sent up to the House of Lords. There is no limit to the number 
of peers that the king can create ; and it is a fixed principle of 
the British constitution that the king must rule according to 
the advice of ministers responsible to the House of Commons. 
The ministers' now extorted from the king a promise that, if 
necessary, he would create enough new peers favorable to the bill 
to carry it through the House of Lords. To prevent this whole- 
sale swamping of their order, the Lords gave way, and in June, 
1832, the Reform Bill became law. 

This triumph of the people fixed in practice what has well 
been called the "safety valve" of the British constitution. 
By this is meant the power of a ministry, when supported 789. The 
by a majority in the House of Commons and an aroused "safety 

, . . . . . valve " of 

public sentiment behind it, to require the king to use his the consti- 

prerogative of creating peers as a means to coerce the t^tion 
upper house. The mere threat to use this power is all that is 
needed; no such wholesale creation of peers has ever taken 
place. For a generation after 1832 the House of Lords sank 
into political impotence, and did not dare attempt to thwart 
the will of the representative chamber. 

The Parliamentary Reform Act of 1832 took away 143 mem- 
bers from small boroughs. It used these seats to increase the 
representation of the more populous counties, and to give mem- 



644 GREAT BRITAIN IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 

bers to the unrepresented manufacturing towns of the north. 
The purpose of the bill may be described in language which 

790. Pro- Russell used of one of his earlier measures : "My proposal 
the Act of took away representation from the dead bones of a 
1832 former state of England, and gave it to the living energy 

and industry of the England of the nineteenth century, with 
its steam engines and factories, its cotton and woolen cloths, 
its cutlery and its coal mines, its wealth and its intelligence." 
The franchise for both county and borough electors was, at the 
same time, made more liberal, and the qualification in the bor- 
oughs was made uniform. 

The reform of 1832, though brought about by peaceful means, 
constituted a real political revolution. It marked the end of 

791. Re- the Old Regime in England. It substituted the rule 
of 1867 of the middle classes — of the farmers and shopkeepers — 
and 1884 for the rule of the landed aristocracy. The further step 

of making the government democratic was accomplished by 
the Reform Acts of 1867 and 1884. The first of these was 
passed by the Conservatives (as the Tories were now called) 
while Disraeli (diz-ra'li) was leader of the House of Commons. 
Because it was proposed by the Conservatives, it had no diffi- 
culty in passing the House of Lords. It doubled the number 
of voters by giving workingmen the franchise. The Reform 
Act of 1884 was passed while Gladstone (glad'stun), the Whig, 
or Liberal, leader, was prime minister. It added about two 
million persons, mostly rural laborers, to the voting body. It 
passed the Lords only after a struggle, because it was the work 
of the Liberal party. After the passage of the latter act, the 
franchise in Great Britain was almost as widely distributed as 
it is in the United States. Each extension of the franchise was 
accompanied by a redistribution of seats, so that representation 
became roughly proportioned to population. 

The Reform Act of 1832, and later electoral laws, made some 
improvements also in the methods of holding elections. Voters 
were required to be registered, the number of polling places 
was increased, and the time of voting was reduced to one day. 



POLITICAL AND SOCIAL REFORMS 645 

Until 1872, however, the voting was viva voce, or by show ot 
hands. The defeated candidate, if dissatisfied, might demand 
a poll of the voters. In that case, each voter had to 792. Voting 
make public declaration of his vote, which was then introduced 
entered upon the poll books. Such crude methods (1872) 
obviously made intimidation and bribery easy. To remedy 
these evils a system of voting by secret ballot was adopted 
in 1872, similar to that used in Australia and the United 
States. 

The foregoing changes made the government of Great Britain 
more democratic. Other laws, which did much to improve the 
material condition of the people, followed as a result of the fact 
that the people themselves now had a larger part in the gov- 
ernment. 

One of the greatest of the social changes which followed the 
first Parliamentary Reform Act was the abolition of negro 
slavery throughout the British Empire. A decision of the 793- Abo- 
British courts in 1772 had established it as the law that slavery 
whenever a slave set foot in England, he became free. (1833) 
Nevertheless, slavery had continued to exist in British colonies, 
and British vessels continued to play a large part in the slave 
trade. Philanthropists (especially Clarkson and Wilberforce) 
carried on an agitation against this infamous traffic. As a 
result. Parliament was induced, in 1807, to pass an act which 
abolished entirely the slave trade by British ships and to British 
colonies. In the Congress of Vienna (181 5), England urged 
the other Powers to similar steps. 

The year followiiig the first Parliamentary Reform Act, 
Parliament passed an act which abolished slavery itself, and 
appropriated £20,000,000 to compensate the masters (1833). 
Thus the British Empire was entirely freed from the curse of 
negro slavery. This step was taken a generation before the 
extinction of slavery in the United States. It should be noted, 
moreover, that the abolition of slavery was accomplished 
peacefully in the British Empire, while in the American re- 
public it was brought about only by a great civil war. 



646 GREAT BRITAIN IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 

The first reformed Parliament also passed an important 
measure to improve the lot of free laborers. In manufacturing 

794. Condi- establishments men, and even women and children, 
factory life often worked as many as eighteen hours a day. Many 
improved parents practically sold their children to the owners of 

factories, who worked them for such long hours aiid under such 
bad conditions that they either died or were injured for life. 
One young man testified before a committee of Parliament, 
in 1832, as follows: — 

"What time did you begin to work at a mill?" — "When I was 

six years old." 

"What sort of a mill was it ?" — "A woolen mill." 

"What were the hours of work?" — "We used to start at five, 

and work till nine at night." 

"State the effect upon your health of those long hours of labor." 

— "I was made crooked with so much standing." Here the witness 

showed his legs, which were very crooked. 

"How tall are you?" — "About four feet, nine inches." 

"What effect did working by gaslight have upon your eyes?"^ — ■ 

"It nearly made me blind." 

As a result of such revelations as these. Parliament in 1833 
passed a Factory Act, which prohibited entirely the employment 
of children under nine years of age. It also limited to nine 
hours a day the labor of those who were between nine years 
and thirteen years of age ; while "young persons" (that is, those 
between thirteen and eighteen years of age) were limited to 
twelve hours a day. Subsequent acts still further limited the 
employment of children. The employment of both women 
and children underground in mines, where conditions were 
even worse than in factories, was entirely prohibited. 

The adoption of free trade was another step which followed 
the reform of Parliament. We have already traced the origins 

795. Free . of this movement in the writings of French economists, 
ad(fp*ted ^^^ ^^ ^^^ great work of Adam Smith (§ 563). The chief 
(1846) obstacle to the triumph of free trade was the interest of 

the landlord class. They wished to maintain the "corn laws," 



POLITICAL AND SOCIAL REFORMS 647 

which prohibited the importation of ''corn" (that is, gfain), 
except when scarcity raised the price to starvation figures. 
Manufacturers protested against these laws, because they made 
Hving dear and compelled employers to pay higher wages. 
After the Reform Act of 1832 had weakened the influence of 
the landlord class in Parliament, it became possible to attack 
the "corn laws" with some hope of success. 

An Anti-Corn-Law League was accordingly organized (in 
1838) under Richard Cobden and John Bright. In 1845, 3-s 
Cobden said, "Famine itself, against which we had warred, 
joined us." In that year a disease attacked the potato, which 
was the chief article of food of the Irish peasantry. As a result, 
two million persons are said to have died of starvation and want 
in Ireland, and within four years another million emigrated to 
America. A traveler reported that in certain places " all the 
sheep were gone ; all the cows, all the poultry killed ; only one 
pig left; the very dogs which had barked at me before had 
disappeared; no potatoes, no oats." The Whig leader. Lord 
Russell, who formerly had upheld the corn laws, now took up 
the cry for their repeal. He declared that they had "been 
proved to be the blight of commerce, the bane of agriculture, 
the source of bitter divisions among classes, the cause Walpole, 
of penury, fever, mortality, and crime among the people." j^^lf^n j 
The Tory leader, Sir Robert Peel, who was again prime 408 
minister, yielded to the demand, and with the assistance of 
the Whigs, carried through Parliament the repeal of the obnox- 
ious laws (1846). This measure helped to relieve the distress 
occasioned by the failure of the potato crop. It also perma- 
nently cheapened the cost of living for the working classes of 
Great Britain, and so greatly improved their condition. The 
repeal of the corn laws practically completed the series of 
changes in the tariff laws which committed Great Britain to 
the policy of free trade. To Peel himself the measure brought 
political downfall ; for the Tory protectionists now abandoned 
their former leader, and soon joined the Whigs in overthrowing 
his government. 



648 GREAT BRITAIN IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 

B. Gladstone and Irish Questions 

In the first thirty-five years which followed the Reform Act 
of 1832, the Conservatives (Tories) were in office less than seven 
years all told. In the next thirty-eight years (1868-1905) they 
were in office twenty-six years. This recovery of their lost 
power was due principally to two things : (i) they now adopted 
a more Liberal policy with respect to domestic reforms ; (2) they 
gave more prominence than Liberals to foreign and colonial 
affairs. 

The Conservative leader who did most to educate his party 
on these lines was Benjamin Disraeli, later made earl of Beacons- 
g Glad- field. He became prime minister for the first time in 
stone and 1868. At about the same time Lord Russell surrendered 
israe ^j^^ leadership of the Liberal party to William E. Glad- 

stone. From that day until Beaconsfield's death, in 1881, 
there was a prolonged political duel between these two great 
statesmen. Disraeli, who was a novelist, and a man of spar- 
kling wit, was the son of Jewish parents, but was himself a 
Christian. He was one of the leaders of those who deserted 
Peel on the question of abolishing the corn laws, and bitterly 
attacked that statesman for his course. He said that Peel 
had "caught the Whigs bathing, and had walked off with their 
clothes" — meaning that he had stolen their political ideas. 
Disraeli was a very brilliant speaker and an able statesman, but 
he was regarded by many as lacking in political sincerity. 

In his youth Gladstone for a time had planned to become 
a clergyman. Though he followed his father's wishes and 
entered political life instead, he retained a deep interest in re- 
ligion throughout his career. He entered Parliament in 1833 
as an extreme Tory. He became a Peelite ; then an out-and- 
out Liberal ; and after more than sixty years of active political 
life, he ended his parliamentary career (in 1894) as a Radical. 
Late in life he summed up the changes in his political principles 
in these words: "I was brought up to distrust and dislike 
liberty. I learned to believe in it. That is the key to all my 



GLADSTONE AND IRISH QUESTIONS 



649 



changes." Gladstone was a matchless orator, and a master 
of finance and constructive statesmanship. He was fearless 
to the point of rashness in his political leadership. Above all, 

he was a great moral 
force, using his remark- 
able intellect to advance 
the cause of political, 
social, and industrial 
freedom. Because of 
his long and honorable 
public service, he be- 
came known the world 
over as England's 
''Grand Old Man." 

Disraeli's first minis- 
try fell the same year 
that it was formed, 797. The 
the question at Irish Church 

dis6st3.b~ 

issue being the ushed 
continuance of the (1869) 
established Protestant 
Gladstone Church in Ireland. At 

the time of the Ref- 
ormation, this branch of the Anglican Church had been 
assigned the former position and the property of the Roman 
Catholic Church in that land. Four fifths of the people of 
Ireland, however, clung to the old Catholic faith; and in 1835 
it was reported to Parliament that in 151 parishes there was 
not a;, single Protestant. Sydney Smith, an eloquent English 
clergyman, wrote: "On an Irish Sabbath the bell of a neat 
parish church often summons to church only the parson and 
an occasionally conforming clerk ; while two hundred yards off 
a thousand Catholics are huddled together in a miserable hovel 
and pelted by all the storms of heaven." Gradually the con- 
sciences of English Liberals awoke to the injustice of taxing 
the Irish people for the support of a faith professed by so small 




650 GREAT BRITAIN IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 

a minority. On this question the Conservatives were out- 
voted in the House of Commons, and in the elections which 
followed, the Liberals were victorious. 

Gladstone, at the head of a Liberal government, thereupon 
became prime minister for the first time. The first act of his 
government was to introduce and carry through a measure to 
disestablish and partly disendow the Protestant Irish Church. 
Thenceforth the Protestant Episcopal Church in Ireland has 
held a position similar to that which it holds in the United States. 
Gladstone was responsible for a host of other reforms in his 
first premiership (1868-1874). Among these were: an act 
a other establishing in England (1870) a state system of ele- 
reforms mentary education ; the abolition of all religious tests at 

(1868-1874) tj^g universities of Oxford and Cambridge (187 1) ; an 
act reorganizing and unifying the great law courts (1873) ; 
an Irish Land Act, which attempted to remedy some of the 
economic evils which weighed upon the Irish peasantry (1870). 
In later years Gladstone was forced more and more to consider 
Irish questions. To understand these we must review briefly 
Condi- ^^^ history of Ireland's connection with England. The 
tions in policy of confiscating Irish land, which was begun in the 

Ire an sixteenth century (§ 395), was continued under James I 

and Oliver Cromwell. Two thirds of the tillable land of Ire- 
land passed into the hands of Englishmen, who at the same time 
were usually Protestants. The great mass of the Irish people 
were forced to become "tenant farmers" under "absentee" 
landlords who dwelt in Great Britain. The main concern of 
these landlords was to get as much rent from their tenants as 
possible, and to do as little for them as they might. . Their 
Irish tenants lived in miserable hovels, paid high rents, and 
usually were liable to be turned out of their little farms at a 
moment's notice. Disraeli once said that the Irish peasants 
were "the worst housed, worst fed, and the worst clothed in 
Europe." Except in Ulster (the northern part of Ireland) 
tenants who made improvements on the lands they tilled ran 
the risk of having their rents raised as a result of their own 



GL.\DSTONE AND IRISH QUESTIONS 651 

industry. Evictions (the turning out of tenants for failure to 
pay the rent demanded) were common. These led in turn to 
cattle maiming, arson, and murder by way of revenge. Then, 
to put down such crimes. Parliament passed coercive laws, and 
these served still further to embitter Irish hatred of England. 
In addition to other injustices, Irish manufactures and commerce 
were long crushed by the English Navigation Acts (§ 450) and 
similar repressive laws. Agriciilture and grazing were almost 
the only occupations to which Irishmen could turn their hands. 

The beginning of better things for Ireland came in 1879 with 
the formation of the National Land League under Charles 
Stewart Par'nell, the leader of the Irish party in Parlia- 800. Parneil 
ment. Its demands were summed up in the "three F's" : j^^j^ j^^^^ 
(i) Fixity of tenure, (2) free sale, and (3) fair rent. In League 
1880 the "boycott" (so called from Captain Boycott, the first 
notable victim of the system) was devised as a means of com- 
bating those who violated these principles. In Parliament 
Parneil at the head of a solid Irish party adopted the policy of 
systematically "obstructing" all business until Irish grievances 
should be redressed. Gladstone's second administration (1880- 
1885) passed a second Irish Land Act, which did much good, but 
fell short of the demands of the Irish party. 

With the general development of the spirit of nationality 
in the nineteenth century, came a desire for the restoration of 
the Irish Parliament.^ This led, in 1870, to the formation 801. Glad- 
of the Irish Home Rule League, which advocated "home Home^Ruie^ 
rule" (or self-government) for Ireland. In Gladstone's (1886) 
third administration (1886) he startled England by announcing 
his conversion to the cause of Home Rule. The result was a 
disastrous split in the Liberal party. The majority of its 
members followed their official leader ; but a minority, of whom 
Joseph Chamberlain was the most important, formed the Liberal 

1 By an Act of Union, passed in 1800, the Irish ParHament had been induced 
to disband and to unite Ireland with Great Britain in "the United Kingdom of 
Great Britain and Ireland." Thenceforth Ireland had 28 representative peers, 
sitting for hfe, in the British House of Lords, and 100 members in the House of 
Commons. 



652 GREAT BRITAIN IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 

Unionist party, and thereafter acted with the Conservatives. 
Gladstone's first Home Rule Bill, introduced in 1886, was de- 
feated in the House of Commons by 341 to 311 votes. Glad- 
stone then "appealed to the country" by procuring the dis- 
solution of the House of Commons and holding new elections. 
In the new House of Commons he had only 276 supporters 
against 394. He thereupon resigned, and a Conservative minis- 
try was formed under Lord Salisbury (s61z'ber-i) . 

Lord Salisbury's (second) administration lasted from 1886 
to 1892. Some further steps were taken toward solving the 
802. Weak- Irish land question, but nothing was done toward giving 
eningof Home Rule to Ireland. The Irish cause was weakened 
party by a split in the Home Rule party, a portion of the 

(1886-1892) Irish members having on personal grounds repudiated 
Parnell, who died in 1891. In 1892 Lord Salisbury was forced 
to dissolve Parliament and appeal to the country. The Liberals, 
under Gladstone, adopted a platform which demanded Home 
Rule for Ireland, the disestablishment of the Anglican (Prot- 
estant Episcopal) Church in Wales, the "mending or ending" 
of the House of Lords, payment for members of Parliament, and 
other radical measures. The result of the elections was a House 
of Commons containing a Gladstonian majority of forty. 

Thus for the fourth time Gladstone became prime minister. 
This position he held until 1894, when he resigned (in his 
eighty-fifth year) on account of ill health. His second Home 
Rule Bill passed the House of Commons in 1893, but it was de- 
feated in the House of Lords, by a vote of 419 to 41. Since the 
opposition to Irish Home Rule was strong among the upper 
classes in Great Britain, and the people did not overwhelmingly 
demand it, Gladstone was unable to procure a creation of peers to 
carry the measure through the House of Lords (§ 789). Conse- 
quently he let Home Rule drop for a time, and carried through 
other measures to which he was pledged. The cause of Home 
Rule languished until a decade after Gladstone's death. 

The Irish land question, however, was practically settled by an 
act passed, in 1903, by the Conservative government, in agree- 



GLADSTONE AND IRISH QUESTIONS 653 




Victoria in i 



ment with the Irish party. The main feature of this act was 
a provision for a government loan of £100,000,000 to 803. Irish 
enable Irish tenants to purchase their holdings. The re- ^hase A^t 
payment of the loans was distributed over long periods. (1903) 
The peasant is thus at last becoming the owner of the land he 
tills, and the chief source of Ireland's ills will soon be removed. 
Gladstone died in 1898, and Salisbury in 1903. More im- 
portant than the death of either was the death, in 1901, of 
Queen Victoria. The loyal affection felt for her throughout the 



654 GREAT BRITAIN IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 

British Empire was shown at her jubilees (in 1887 and in 1897) 
on the completion of her fiftieth and sixtieth years of rule. 
804. Death During her reign of sixty-four years, the people of Great 
Vic^rk^ Britain doubled in numbers, while their wealth increased 
(1910) threefold and their trade sixfold. Victoria's reign is 

the most glorious in the annals of England — glorious not by 
reason of conquests and wars, but by reason of the progress of 
peace, enlightenment, morality, and of the uplifting of the 
people. In English literature it was an important epoch. 
Burns, Byron, and Scott belong to an earlier period; but 
Wordsworth (1770-1850), Macaulay (1800-1859), Browning 
(1812-1889), and Tennyson (1809-1892) were of the Victo- 
rian era. Many forces combined to produce the greatness of 
England in this period. Among these must be reckoned the 
good Queen Victoria, whose "noble life and beneficent influ- 
ence," to use the language of President McKinley, "have 
prompted the peace and won the affection of the world." The 
Prince of Wales, at the age of sixty, succeeded her as Edward 
VII (§ 880). 

The revival in the new century of the struggle for Home Rule 
will be described in a later chapter. The following things 
^ Prog- should be noted as having been accomplished for Ireland 
ress of in the nineteenth century : (i) The religious tests which 

Ireland j^^p^ Irish Catholics out of political office were re- 

pealed. (2) The Protestant Church of Ireland was dis- 
established, and Irish Catholics are no longer taxed to 
support a religion in which they disbelieve. (3) The land 
question was practically settled. (4) In addition, Ireland shared 
in the benefits of the general reforms enacted by Great Britain — 
in the extension of the right of voting, in free trade, in the pro- 
tection given by the factory acts, and in the reform of local 
government. (5) Irish manufactures and commerce, Irish art 
and literature, were revived. The "Emerald Isle" is at last 
awakening from the stagnation into which it was thrust by 
England's oppression ; and to no one Englishman is this result 
more due than to William E. Gladstone. 



THE BRITISH CONSTITUTION 655 

To sum up the history of Great Britain in the nineteenth 

century we may say : (i) That her constitution was transformed 

by peaceful means. (2) That great steps were taken to- 806. Great 

ward the solution of many vexed social and economic ^"tains 

. . progress 

problems. (3) That Great Britain by her example con- and influ- 

tributed largely also to the solution of the political prob- ^^^^ 
lems of Continental countries. "England in the nineteenth cen- 
tury," says a French historian, "has served as a political model 
for Europe. The English people developed the political ggignobos 
mechanism of modern Europe, — constitutional monarchy, Europe Since 
parliamentary government, and safeguards for personal ^ ^'*'^° 
liberty. The other nations have only imitated them." 

England passed through the nineteenth century without a 
revolution mainly because of two things : (i) She already had 
an established constitution, under which much political freedom 
was enjoyed, together with a liberty of speech and of writing 
which made possible peaceful movements for reform. (2) The 
English are a conservative people, and prefer to "muddle along" 
with existing conditions as long as they are endurable, and to 
change cautiously when change is necessary. Most of their 
reforms — religious emancipation, parliamentary reform, factory 
legislation, Irish betterment — came gradually and as a result 
of compromise. Thus Great Britain escaped the seesaw of 
revolution and reaction, and each step in advance proved 
permanent. 

C. The British Constitution 

The three great acts of Parliamentary Reform (§§ 791, 792) 
transferred to the people the chief political power in Great 
Britain. The forms and appearances of the monarchy, 807. The 
however, were preserved unchanged. In theory the king ^^ monarchy 
still enacts laws, declares war, makes peace, and carries preserved 
on the government. In practice all legislative power is exer- 
cised by Parliament, and all executive power is in the hands of 
Cabinet ministers, who act in the king's name. To Americans 
it may seem absurd to maintain the ancient forms of government 



656 GREAT BRITAIN IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 

when the substance has so greatly changed. But Englishmen 
cling with jreverence and affection to their king, and maintain 
their monarchical traditions. 

The British constitution is not, like that of the United States, 
embodied in a written document. It is made up of institutions, 
customs, and laws which have arisen in the slow growth of cen- 
turies. An English philosopher compares the British consti- 
tution to one of those old English manor houses "which in- 
stead of being built all at once, after a regular plan, has been 
reared in different ages, has been altered from time to time, 
and has continually been receiving additions and repairs suited 
to the taste, fortune, or convenience of its successive proprie- 
tors." Unlike the constitution of the United States, that of 
Great Britain can be amended at any time and in any part by 
an ordinary act of Parliament. 

The center of the actual working part of the government is 

the Cabinet. In reality this is a committee selected from the 

808. The two houses of Parliament. Nowadays it numbers from 

Cabinet sixteen to twenty members. The king chooses the prime 

the ccnt6r 

of govern- minister or head of the Cabinet, and the latter chooses 

ment jjjg colleagues. In reality the range of choice is greatly 

narrowed by the requirements : (i) that the Cabinet shall be 
of the same political opinions as the majority in the House of 
Commons ; and (2) that its head and members shall be those 
whom that majority recognizes as its leaders. 

Each member of the Cabinet becomes the head of one of the 
great departments of government (Foreign Affairs, War, Ad- 
miralty, Treasury, etc.). Together with their chief assistants 
in these departments, they make up the ministry, usually num- 
bering about forty persons. The less important ministers, 
equally with the Cabinet ministers, must all be members of 
one or the other of the houses of Parliament. 

" Upon the Cabinet," Gladstone once wrote, " is concentrated 
Gladstone ^^^ whole Strain of the government, and it constitutes 
Gleanings, from day to day the true center of gravity of the working 
^' '^^^ system of the state." The Cabinet ministers perform 




in i II "III"™ i"iini|fi 



liiii^ 





657 



658 GREAT BRITAIN IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 

three most important functions. In the secret sessions of the 
Cabinet they decide what shall be the policies of the realm. In 
the House of Commons and in the House of Lords they 
advocate and defend these policies. In the executive depart- 
ments over which they severally preside they carry out these 
policies. In this way a unity and consistency of action is given 
to the government which is wanting under most other forms of 
government. Indeed, the union of executive and legislative powers 
is one of the chief points of difference between the British 
constitution and the constitution of the United States. In 
the United States, neither the President nor the members of 
his Cabinet are allowed to have seats in Congress or to take 
part in its debates. They are forced, therefore, to use in- 
direct and roundabout means of securing the passage of the 
laws which they consider desirable. In Great Britain the prime 
minister and his colleagues must be members of Parliament, 
and they are naturally its leaders. The Speaker of the House 
of Commons is not the leader of that body, as is the case in 
our House of Representatives, but is merely an impartial pre- 
siding officer. It is the ministers that take the leading 
part in the business of Parliament. For example, no vote of 
money, and no addition to any vote, can be proposed except in 
the House of Commons, and by one of the ministers. This 
puts an effective check on extravagance, and prevents such 
scandals as sometimes arise in connection with our river and 
harbor bills, public building bills, and private pension legis- 
lation. 

Another vital difference between the American and the 
British systems lies in the fact that when the British ministry 
loses the support of a majority in the House of Commons it must 
either resign or "appeal to the country." If the latter course 
is determined upon, the king dissolves Parliament and orders a 
general election. If the ministers are sustained by the voters, 
they remain in office and have thereafter a majority favorable 
to their measures. If the opposite party secures a majority of 
members in the election, the ministers must resign, and the 




6S9 



66o GREAT BRITAIN IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 

acknowledged leader of the opposition party is called by the 
king to form a ministry. He and his followers then take 
their places on the government benches in Parliament, and 
the former ministers become the leaders of the opposition. 
Members of the House of Commons are not required to be res- 
idents of the constituencies which they represent ; and if an im- 
portant member of either party is defeated in the election, a seat 
is found for him from some other constituency. Thus great 
statesmen like Gladstone can spend the greater part of their 
lives in continuous service in the House of Commons. Often such 
a man will serve three or four times as prime minister, leading 
the opposition in Parliament when his party is out of power. 
When an election is held, three weeks usually covers the whole 
time between the dissolution of the House of Commons, and the 
coming into office of the newly elected house. With this should 
be contrasted the period of thirteen months which usually 
elapses between the election of an American Congress and the 
entrance of its members upon the duties of their office, — to 
say nothing of the greater length of our political campaigns. 

From this account it will be clear why the British Cabinet 

system is said to be the most democratic form of government 

809. Cabi- in operation in any great modern state. The fact that the 

net govern- jjouse of Commons may be dissolved at any time for the 

ment the 

most demo- purpose of ascertaining the will of the people on any im- 

cratic portant question, makes that body more sensitive to public 

opinion than (for instance) is the Congress of the United States, 

whose members are elected for a definite term of years. The 

ministry, supported by a majority in the House of Commons, 

also has more power to put their measures into effect than has 

our President. This is especially true since the limitation of 

the power of the aristocratic House of Lords in 1911 (§ 885). It 

should also be noted that in practice the king is obliged to give 

his consent to any act passed by the two houses of Parliament. 

In other words, his veto, which has not been used for more than 

two hundred years, has practically disappeared. Moreover, 

since the British constitution is not a written or fixed constitu- 



THE BRITISH COLONIAL EMPIRE 66l 

tion, any act of Parliament is law. As in France, the British 
courts have no power to set aside an act of Parliament as invalid, 
on the grounds of real or supposed conflict with the constitution. 
It is much easier, therefore, under a government like that of 
Great Britain, to secure changes, no matter how sweeping, when 
really demanded by the people, than it is under a government of 
"checks and balances" like that of the United States. 

D. The British Colonial Empire 

The British Parliament not only rules directly the United 
Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland; it is also the supreme 
lawmaking body for a vast colonial empire. 

The creation of this empire in the eighteenth century, by 
the conquest of Canada and India and the occupation of Aus- 
tralia, has already been described (chapter xxiii). In g^^ Extent 
the nineteenth century, through successful wars and the of the 
advance of exploration and European settlement, it stead- ^^P""® 
ily grew larger. To-day it includes lands scattered through 
every quarter of the globe. Nearly one fourth of the total 
land area of the whole earth is now included within its limits, 
and about one fourth of the whole population of the earth owes 
allegiance to the British flag. About one eighth of the popu- 
lation of the British Empire (including the United Kingdom) 
belong to the white race. The remainder belong to Asiatic 
and various native (colored) races. The total population of 
the empire may be placed at about 400,000,000. 

The lands (outside of Europe) included in this great empire 
fall chiefly into five groups : (i) Canada and other possessions 
in America; (2) Australia and New Zealand; (3) British 
South Africa; (4) Egypt and the Egyptian Sudan; (5) India 
and Burma. 

The greatest possession of Great Britain, and the most im- 
portant part of the empire after the mother country 811. British 
itself, is Canada." Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, and the America 
Hudson Bay territory were acquired in 1713 (§461). France 







ngitude 



663 



664 GREAT BRITAIN IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 

surrendered the remainder of her possessions in this region in 
1763 (§ 544). In the nineteenth century the advance of explora- 
tion and settlement spread British rule to the Pacific Ocean. 
In area Canada is considerably larger than the United States, 
but its population is only about one fifteenth that of our country. 
This scantiness of population is partly due to the fact that vast 
stretches in the north are Arctic in character, and unsuited to 
agriculture. The southern third comprises much rich and fertile 
land, and in spite of its long and cold winters it is growing 
rapidly in number of inhabitants and in wealth. Except in 
Quebec, where French Canadians still predominate, the settlers 
in Canada are mainly of British blood and speech. In 1867 
Parliament passed an act which resulted in the federal union 
of all British North America, except Newfoundland, under the 
narne of the Dorrtinion of Canada. Nine provinces and two 
territories are now included in this union. Each of the prov- 
inces has its own legislature and a responsible government 
modeled after that of England. The central (or ' Dominion) 
government is composed of the following : — 

1. A governor-general, sent out from England by the home govern- 

ment. His duties are largely formal, like those of the king at 
home, or the president of France. 

2. A prime minister and ministry, similar to the British Cabinet, who 

are responsible to the Dominion Parliament. 

3. A Senate composed of members appointed for life by the Dominion 

government. The representation is not equal, as in the United 
States Senate. Quebec and Ontario each have 24 Senators, 
British Columbia only 3. 

4. A House of Commons elected by the people for five years, unless 

sooner dissolved. The representation in this is according to 
population. 

5. All powers not specifically assigned to the provinces are reserved 

to the Dominion government. This is directly contrary to the 
corresponding provision in the United States Constitution. 

6. The governors of the provinces are appointed by the Dominion 

government, and it can also veto legislation passed by the pro- 
vincial parliaments. 



THE BRITISH COLONIAL EMPIRE 665 

In nearly everything the Canadians are allowed to govern 
themselves. The Dominion government even maintains tariff 
laws, which apply to goods coming from Great Britain as well 
as from foreign countries. The duties on British goods, how- 
ever, are lower than on those from other lands. The Canadians 
are happy and contented under their form of government, and 
show no desire for annexation to the United States. 

Australia is the second in importance of the British colonies. 
It was acquired through the explorations of Captain Cook, 
and through settlements beginning in 1788 (§ 549). g^^. xhe 
Gold was discovered in Australia in 1851, and great for- Australian 
tunes were made by lucky miners. A more important 
source of wealth was found about the same time in the raising 
of sheep. Five colonies were established on the mainland, 
and another in the near-by island of Tasmania, each with its own 
legislature and governor. In 1901 all six were united into a 
federal government, under the name of the Commonwealth of 
Australia. This, like Canada, is a self-governing colony, made 
up of men mainly of British blood and speech. The federal 
government of Australia is similar to that of Canada ; It leaves, 
however, a larger measure of independence to the separate col- 
onies than is the case with the Canadian constitution. The 
following are the chief points of difference : — 

1. The governor of each state is appointed by the British government, 

and not by the Commonwealth government. 

2. The legislation of each state, within the limits of its authority, is 

not subject to veto by the Commonwealth. 

3. The powers of government not specifically conferred on the Com- 

monwealth Parliament are reserved to the several states. 

The two great islands of New Zealand (which together are 
twice as large as England) are more than a thousand miles 
distant from Australia, and hence are not included in the 
Commonwealth. They make up a separate self-governing 
colony, which is very progressive and prosperous. 

South Africa is the land in which British power has made 
greatest strides in recent years. Cape Colony (Cape of Good 



666 GREAT BRITAIN IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 



South 
Africa 



Hope) was conquered from Holland in 1806, while that country 
was aiding Napoleon Bonaparte in his wars against Great 
gj British Britain. When slavery was abolished by the British 
Parliament in 1833, many Dutch inhabitants, or ''Boers" 
(boorz), of Cape Colony " trekked " northward to es- 
cape British rule. They founded the independent settlements 
of Natal (na-tal'), the Orange Free State, and the Transvaal'. 
Natal was annexed by the British in 1843. ^ petty war with 
the Transvaal Boers, in which the British were defeated, led 
to treaties (1881 and 1884) in which it was agreed that the 

South African Re- 
public should have 
complete self-govern- 
ment in internal affairs, 
but in external affairs 
was to be under the 
suzerainty of Great 
Britain. Gold mines 
were worked in Cape 
Colony from an early 
day, and in 1871 dia- 
mond mines were dis- 
covered at Kimberley 
which made that place 
the center of the dia- 
mond industry of the world. The Boers, however, remain 
chiefly farmers and stock-raisers. In 1885 came the discovery 
of rich gold deposits in the Transvaal, and a flood of British 
and foreign miners and adventurers poured into that state. 
Friction followed between these newcomers and the Boers. 
The result was the Second Boer War (i 899-1 902), in which 
the Orange Free State joined the Transvaal in spirited resist- 
ance to British claims. 

The vigor of the Boers and the great distance of the seat of 
conflict from Europe, taxed the resources of Great Britain to 
the uttermost. Her foes were sturdy frontiersmen, trained 




I Boer Republics, conquered 1899-1902 
Union of South Africa 
[ Other British Possessions 



SCALE OF MILES 

3 100 200 300 



South Africa 



THE BRITISH COLONIAL EMPIRE 667 

from boyhood to the use of weapons, and they fought in a 
country whose every pass and "kopje" (hill) was familiar to 
them. There were no great battles, and the war was mainly gj ^jjg 
a series of ambuscades, traps, and sieges. After many Boer War 
humiliating reverses, and the sending to South Africa of (^^99-^902) 
nearly half a million soldiers, Great Britain was at last successful. 
Both the Transvaal and the Orange Free State were then made 
British colonies. The war revealed great defects in the ad- 
ministration of the British army, while the gallant fight made 
by the Boers aroused much sympathy, both among Liberals in 
England and throughout the world. 

The Conservative party in England was responsible for the 
measures which began the war and for its successful completion ; 
but soon after its conclusion the Liberals again came into 815. Union 
power. They adopted a policy of conciliation towards ^fj.j°" 
the Boers, and soon restored the right of local self-govern- (1909) 
ment to the conquered territories. The good effects of this 
policy were seen when both colonies, in 1909, voluntarily joined 
with Natal and Cape Colony in forming, under authorization of 
the British government, the federal Union of South Africa. 
The constitution of the Union is roughly similar to the con- 
stitutions of Canada and Australia. The government is placed 
in the hands of a governor-general, a responsible ministry, and 
a parliament of two houses. The fact that the natives of South 
Africa (negroes) are more than twice as numerous as the white 
settlers accounts for some of the special features of the con- 
stitution. The existence side by side of the Dutch (Boers) 
and the British, each clinging to its language and customs, also 
complicates the situation. A former Boer leader. General 
Botha (bo'ta), did much to bring about the formation of the 
Union. He is one of the ablest and broadest-minded statesmen 
of that land, and he became the first prime minister of the Union 
government. He typifies the spirit of loyal acceptance of the 
results of the war, which was produced by Great Britain's con- 
ciliatory policy toward the defeated party. "I want the king 
and the British people to realize," he said, "that the trust re- 



668 GREAT BRITAIN IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 

posed in us has been worthily taken up. I hope that they will 
have cause of pride in the young South African nation." 

Egypt is nominally a part of the Turkish Empire, but prac- 
tically it is under British rule. The circumstances which led, 
8 6 Th ^^ 1882, to the British "occupation" of Egypt will be told 
British in in the next chapter. Since that time — although Egypt 
^^^* has its own ruler, called the Khedive, who is subject to 

the Sultan — British soldiers have guarded the country, and 
British officials have had a large part in its administration. 
The British "occupation" has been of very great advantage 
to 'Egypt. Taxes have become less, justice has become more 
certain, order has been kept, great public works have been 
built, and the condition of the people has been improved. Es- 
pecially noteworthy is a series of enormous dams, to pen up the 
waste waters of the river Nile, while it is in flood, and gradually 
let them out later, so that barren lands become rich fields of 
cotton, sugar cane, and rice. Another great work is the build- 
ing of a railroad southward, to meet one which is being built 
northward from Cape Colony. When this road is completed, 
it will be possible to go by rail for five thousand miles — through 
Egyptian desert and tropical jungle, where lions and elephants 
abound — from Cairo in Egypt to the Cape of Good Hope. 
It is likely that the British will remain in Egypt indefinitely. 
India, whose population is alien in race, religion, and modes 
of life from the population of Europe, remains in a class apart. 
817 British Its area is half as great as that of the United States, 
India and and it has more than three times as many people. Un- 
Burma ^-j^^ other British possessions, India had an old and very 

highly developed civilization when the Europeans first came. 
There was no room for new settlements in India, and the 
British there are still few in numbers. Since 1763 the area 
ruled directly by Great Britain has greatly increased, as a 
result of confiscations and annexations. Nevertheless, about 
half of India is still ruled by native princes, under the suze- 
rainty of Great Britain. In the course of the nineteenth 
century Great Britain was forced to conquer the kingdom 



THE BRITISH COLONIAL EMPIRE 669 

of Burma, in Further India, and added that country to its 
Indian possessions. 

The rule of the East India Company, under a board of con- 
trol appointed by the British government (p. 458), continued 
until the Indian Mutiny in 1857. This was a revolt of the 
native Sepoy troops, due to uneasiness created by the rapid 
progress of British ways and rule. Its immediate occasion was 
a rumor that certain new cartridges furnished to the troops 
were greased with a mixture of hog and beef fat — the one ani- 
mal an object of loathing to Mohammedans, and the other of 
religious worship to the Hindus. Fortunately the movement 
was confined to the army and to a few provinces. It brought 
terrible suffering to many of the English residents, including 
women and children, before the revolt was put down in 1858. 
After the Mutiny, the British government took over the rule 
of the British possessions in India, and the East India Company 
came to an end. A further step to strengthen British rule was 
taken in 1877, when Queen Victoria was proclaimed by a new 
title, that of "Empress of India." 

The portion of India directly under British rule is adminis- 
tered by a viceroy and executive council chosen by the British 
government. Steps have recently been taken to admit the 
educated natives to a share in India's government by the crea- 
tion of a legislative council, made up in part of elected members. 
In 1 9 13 the construction was begun, on a magnificent scale, 
of a brand-new capital for India, not far from the ancient city 
of Delhi. 

In addition to these larger blocks of territory, Great Britain 
has smaller possessions scattered all over the world. These 
include Gibraltar, Malta, and Cyprus in the Mediterra- 818. Scat- 
nean Sea ; the Bermudas, certain of the West Indies, ^^''^f p°S" 

,,_,.,, 1T1 1 rri i-A • Ai sessions of 

and the J^alkland Islands oft the coast of America ; Aden, Great 

Ceylon, and the Straits Settlements on the coast of Asia ; Britain 

together with many islands in the Indian and Pacific oceans. 

Most of these possessions are " crown colonies " and are governed 

chiefly by officials appointed from England. These scattered 



670 GREAT BRITAIN IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 

colonies are valuable to Great Britain chiefly as coaling stations 
and naval bases. 

Under the rule of the Liberals, in the middle of the nineteenth 
century, the colonies were lightly valued, and statesmen looked 
810. British forward without dismay to a time when they might be 
colonial lost. "We know," said Gladstone, in 1864, "that British 
^° '^^ North America and Australia must before long be inde- 

pendent states. We have no interest except in their strength 
and well-being." But since regular steamship lines, submarine 
cables, and wireless telegraphy have made communication less 
difi&cult, there is no longer talk of letting the colonies fall "like 
ripe fruit from the tree." On the contrary, efforts have been 
made to unite them to their imperial mother by ties of interest 
and affection. 

The union of different groups of the colonies among them- 
selves into federal unions has been discussed in the case of 
820 Im- Canada, Australia, and South Africa. Some progres;^ 
perial has also been made toward uniting the colonies by closer 

e era ion political ties with the home country. In connection with 
the celebration of Queen Victoria's Jubilee, in 1887, a Colonial 
Conference was called at London, which was attended by lead- 
ing statesmen from all the self-governing colonies. This was 
the first step toward what is called Imperial Federation, — that 
is, toward giving to the colonies a share in the government of 
the British Empire. Several such conferences have since been 
held ; and while no workable scheme for admitting the colonies 
to partnership in the government has yet been devised, the ties 
have been drawn closer between Englishmen at home and their 
brethren "beyond seas." Great Britain .has learned the folly of 
trying to tax her self-governing colonies, and now refrains 
from any such attempt. She protects her colonists with her 
navy, and in case of need with her armies; but makes no 
demand upon them for contributions to the empire's defense. 
The colonies, however, are now voluntarily undertaking this 
burden. In the Boer War, Australia and Canada sent regi- 
ments of their citizens to aid the British soldiers in that hard- 



TOPICS AND REFERENCES 671 

fought contest. New Zealand and Australia have undertaken 
to provide warships as a contribution to the British fleet. In 
Australia and in other colonies a scheme of military defense has 
been worked out jointly by the home and colonial authorities. 
A recent British poet has described Great Britain as a lion, 
and the self-governing colonies as full-grown cubs, ready to 
come at the lion's call to his assistance : — 

"The Lion stands by his shore alone 
And sends, to the bounds of Earth and Sea, 
First low notes of the thunder to be. 
Then East and West, through the vastness grim, 
The Whelps of the Lion answer him." 

IMPORTANT DATES 

1820. Death of George III. 

1829. Catholic Emajicipation Act passed. 

1832. First Parliamentary Reform Act. 

1833. Slavery abolished throughout the British colonies. 
1837. Accession of Queen Victoria. 

1846. The Com Laws repealed and Free Trade established. 

1867. Second Parliamentary Reform Act. 

1868. Gladstone for the first time Prime Minister. 

1869. Protestant church in Ireland disestabUshed. 
1884. Third ParUamentary Reform Act. 

1886. Gladstone adopts cause of Home Rule ; split in the Liberal party. 

1898. Death of Gladstone. 

1901. Death of Queen Victoria. 

1903. Irish land question settled. 

TOPICS AND REFERENCES 

Suggestive Topics. — (i) Which contributed more to the advancfement 
of the people, the gradual reforms of Great Britain or the revolutions of 
France ? (2) How do you account for the conservative character of the 
English people? (3) Was it just to exclude Protestant dissenters, Catho- 
lics, and Jews from Parliament while taxing them? (4) Do the same 
reasons apply to the unrepresented towns and classes before the reform of 
Parliament? (5) What changes did the parliamentary reform acts make 
in the political control of Great Britain ? (6) Which party profited most 
by the Reform Act of 1832 ? (7) Compare the abolition of slavery in the 



672 GREAT BRITAIN IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 

British Empire with that in the United States. (8) Was the adoption of 
Free Trade a wise or an unwise step for Great Britain ? (9) Why have 
other countries not followed Great Britain's lead in this matter? (10) 
Which seems to you the greater statesman, Gladstone or Disraeli? Why? 
(11) If you were English, would you be a Conservative, a Liberal, or a Lib- 
eral-Unionist ? Why? (12) What arguments may be urged for giving 
Home Rule to Ireland? (13) What arguments may be urged for not doing 
so? (14) Is the Cabinet system of Great Britain, or the Presidential 
system of the United States, the better form of government? Give your 
reasons. (15) Why did Great Britain win in the contests for colonial 
empire? (16) Compare the government of Canada with that of the 
United States. (17) By what right did Great Britain gain Australia? 
(18) Is the federal government of Canada or of Australia the better form? 
Why? (19) Compare the treatment of the Boers by Great Britain after 
the Boer War with the treatment of the Southern states by our Federal 
Government following the Civil War. (20) Ought the British to withdraw 
from Eg3rpt? (21) Is the British rule over India good or bad for India? 
Why? (22) Is the connection of the colonies with Great Britain good or 
bad for the colonies ? For Great Britain ? Give your reasons. 

Search Topics. — (i) O'Connell and Catholic Emancipation. Mc- 
Carthy, History of Our Own Times, I, ch. xii; Lawless, Ireland, 377-389. 
— (2) The Old Parliamentary System. Hazen, Europe Since 181 5, 409- 
415; Ilbert, Parliament, 33-47; May, Constitutional History of England, I, 
ch. vi (first half) ; Beard, Introduction to English Historians, 538-548. — 
(3) Parliamentary Reform of 1832. Hazen, 428-438; Montague, 
English Constitutional History, 206-208 ; Beard, Introduction, 549-565 ; 
Robinson and Beard, Readings, II, 239-245 ; Cheyney, Readings in English 
History, 679-690. — (4) Abolition of Slavery and the Slave Trade. 
McCarthy, Epoch of Reform, ch. vii; Walpole, History of England from 1815, 
III, 388-414. — (5) Irish Famine of 1845. Lawless, Ireland, 396-402; 
McCarthy, History of Our Own Times, 1, 278-282 ; Kendall, Source Book of 
English History, 414-418. — (6) Evils of the Factory System. Chey- 
ney, Industrial and Social History, 235-239, 244-252; Cheyney, Readings, 
690-697; Kendall, Source Book, 401-406; Robinson and Beard, Readings, 
II, 282-285. — (7) Repeal of the Corn Laws. McCarthy, History of 
Our Own Times, I, 222-233; McCarthy, Life of Peel, ch. xiii; Cheyney, 
Readings, 708-715 ; Robinson and Beard, Readings, II, 286-289. — 
(8) English Attitude Towards the American Civil War. McCarthy, 
History of Our Own Times, II, 190-219, 224-228; Rhodes, History of the 
United States, III, 502-538; Cheyney, Readings, 729-735; Harding, Select 
Orations Illustrating American History, 392-413. - — (9) Gladstone's 
Personality and Character. McCarthy, History of Our Own Times, I, 
425-433 ; Russell, Gladstone; Morley, Gladstone, Bk. II, ch. vi. — • 



TOPICS AND REFERENCES 673 

(10) Disraeli. McCarthy, History of Our Own Times, I, 256-266 ; Froude, 
Disraeli, 236-262; Biyce, Studies in Contemporary Biography ("Beacons- 
field")- — (11) Parnell and Irish Land Questions. McCarthy, History 
of Our Own Times, III, 63-70; Johnston and Spencer, Ireland's Story, 
324-338; O'Brien, Life of Charles Stewart Parnell; Robinson and Beard, 
Readings, II, 296-300. — (12) The Home Rule Movement. Hazen, 
497-509; Encyclopedia Britannica, IX, 579-580; Robinson and Beard, 
Readings, II, 300-305 ; O'Brien, Parnell. — (13) Development of Canada. 
Hazen, 523-530; Encyclopedia Britannica, V, 158-164; Robinson and 
Beard, Readings, II, 316-322; Bourinot, Canada Under British Ride. — 

(14) Constitution of Canada. Encyclopedia Britannica, V, 165 ; Court- 
ney, Working Constitution of the United Kingdom, Pt. Ill, ch. iii. — 

(15) Developm^snt of Australia. Encyclopedia Britannica, II, 558-565 ; 
Jenks, History of the Australasian Colonies. — (16) Constitution of Aus- 
tralia. Hazen, 530-534; Beard, Introductimi, 645-662; Robinson and 
Beard, Readings, II, 472-474. — (17) The Cabinet System. Bagehot, 
English Constitution (2d ed.), ch. ii; Montague, 163-172; Robinson and 
Beard, Readings, II, 258-266. — (18) The Mutiny in India. McCarthy, 
History of Our Own Times, II, chs. xxxii-xxxv; Beard, Introduction, 638- 
644. — (19) The Boer War. Hazen, 536-545 ; Encyclopedia Britannica, 
XXVII, 199-208; Conan Doyle, The War in South Africa, chs. ii, iv; 
De Wet, Three Years' War; R. binson and Beard, Readings, II, 331-336. 
— (20) Private Life and Char/vcter of Queen Victoria. Lee, Queen 
Victoria, ch. xlix. 

General Reading. — Justin McCarthy, History of Our Own Times (5 
vols.), covers the whole reign of Queen Victoria. Spencer Walpole, A 
History of England from the Conclusion of the Great War in 18 15 (6 vols.), 
covers the period to 1856. Herbert Paul, A History of Modern England 
(5 vols.), deals with the period from 1846 to 1895. Morley's Life of Glad- 
stone (3 vols.) is an admirable work. The Dictionary of National Biography 
should be consulted for special biographies. 



CHAPTER XXXIV 

THE EASTERN QUESTION AND THE PARTITION OF 
AFRICA 

A. Armed Peace among European Powers 

The Franco-Prussian War ended in the annexation of Alsace- 
Lorraine to the newly founded German Empire (§ 776). This 
spoliation of France by Germany marked the abandon- g^i. in- 
ment of the idea of a ''.community of Europe," which crease of 
underlay the system of Metternich. It marked also the ^™^*™®° ^ 
complete triumph of the idea of national separatism. Intense 
rivalries then prevailed for a generation among the states of 
Europe, — the natural consequence of Bismarck's high-handed 
policy of "blood and iron," and of reliance upon armed force. 
France passionately desired a "war of revenge" that should 
recover for her the lost French j)rovinces. To that end she 
strained every nerve to increase her army, her navy, and her 
defenses. Germany was obliged to follow suit to retain what 
she had won. In the race of armaments, France was easily 
outstripped. Her population in the last quarter of the nine- 
teenth century increased only one million, while that of the 
German Empire increased fifteen millions. Other Powers, in 
self-defense, were obliged to follow courses similar to those pur- 
sued by Germany and France. By the close of the century 
Europe thus presented the aspect of "an armed camp." France 
had a war strength of 2,500,000 men, Germany of 3,000,000, and 
Russia of 3,500,000, — in addition to powerful navies. Rapid- 
fire guns, smokeless powder, powerful explosive shells, and Lavisse Gen- 
repeating rifles of long range increased the terrors of war. eral View, 
"Formerly," says the historian Lavisse, "peace wore ^ ^~^ 
only demi-armor. To-day it is armed from head to foot. 

67s 



676 EASTERN QUESTION AND PARTITION OF AFRICA 

Without any effort, by a tap of the telegraph, after some 
puffs of locomotives, there is war ; and what terrible war ! Just 
as the politics of former centuries appear to be almost trivial com- 
pared with those of to-day, so the armies of [the seventeenth cen- 
tury] compared with ours seem to be mere playthings." On 
the other hand, "it is not impossible that- the apprehension of 
war retards war. No one is sure of winning, and every one 
knows that defeat may be fatal. That is what makes the hand 
hesitate that is able to give the tap on the telegraph. It is 
possible that armed peace, by being prolonged, may appear at 
once too burdensome and too absurd, and that reason and 
humanity may assert their right." 

In the face of the bitter hostility of France, Bismarck's policy 
was, so far as possible, to maintain cordial relations with both 
822. Triple Russia and Austria. His purpose was the maintenance 
aUiances ^^ peace on the basis of the existing territorial arrange- 
(1883-1891) ments, — that is, the possession of Alsace-Lorraine by 
Germany. Gradually a new grouping of the Powers took 
place. The establishment of a French protectorate over Tunis 
(in 1 881) brought France and Italy to the verge of war; and 
Italy thereupon, in 1883, entered with Austria and Germany 
into a Triple Alliance, which has several times been renewed. 
About the same time France and Russia formed a Dual Alliance 
for mutual defense against European attacks. Thus the five 
Continental Powers were arranged in two groups, — the Triple 
Alliance, made up of Austria, Germany, and Italy, and the Dual 
Alliance, composed of Russia and France. England's policy for 
a time was to hold aloof from continental alliances, but in 
recent years she has cast in her lot with France and Russia 
(1907). The name "Triple Entente" (aN-taNt'; "triple un- 
derstanding") is sometimes given to this friendly relationship of 
the last three Powers. 

A consciousness of the burdens imposed by these armaments 
and alliances at length produced a desire for concord. It was 
felt not only by the rulers, but by the more enlightened classes 
of the people, on whom the burden of war chiefly falls. Out 



ARMED PEACE AMONG EUROPEAN POWERS 677, 

of this desire came, in the closing years of the century, a restora- 
tion of the Concert of the Great Powers, and its extension in prac- 
tice to cover the concerns of interest to civUized peoples in 823. Re- 
all parts of the world. The Great Powers of Europe ^^ of *'"' 
(Germany, Great Britain, France, Russia, Austria, Italy) Powers 
now make a practice of acting together in all important in- 
ternational concerns. Their action is not usually registered 
in public treaties; none the less, through their joint under- 
standings, embodied in diplomatic notes and other communi- 
cations, they have in recent years largely ruled Europe, and have 
regulated European interests in Africa and Asia. In its inter- 
national relations this is the most signal feature of the present 
age. It foreshadows, perhaps, — no matter how remotely, — 
the formation of a new World State, in which all great questions 
will be treated in international congresses, and disputes between 
nations will be settled by diplomacy and arbitration instead of 
by the sword. An important step in this direction has more 
recently been taken in the Hague Peace Conferences, which will 
be treated in a later section. 



B. The Eastern Question 

The only wars which actually broke out in Europe, in the forty 
years following the Franco-Prussian War, were in the uneasy 
lands of the Balkan peninsula. These were due to the fact 
that the Eastern Question — that is, the question of the ulti- 
mate fate of the Turkish Empire — was still unsolved (§ 721). 

In spite of frequent promises of reform, Turkey continued to 
be a plague spot in Europe. In 1870 Russia seized the oppor- 
tunity offered by the Franco-Prussian War to declare 824. The 
that she would no longer be bound by the clauses of the Russo- 

r T^ • /e N 1 . 1 T • 1 1 • • ^ Turkish 

treaty of Pans (§ 723) which limited her action m the war (1877- 

Black Sea. This step aroused a fanatical movement ^^78) 

among the Turks, the aim of which was to throw off the control 

of the Powers and oppose to Christendom the united force of 

Mohammedanism. Brutal conflicts followed with the native 



678 EASTERN QUESTION AND PARTITION OF AFRICA 




Turkish Soldier, 1877 



Christians of Bulgaria and Servia. After fruitless negotiations 
to secure the cooperation of the other Powers, Russia declared 
war alone against Turkey, in April, 1877. 
The Russians crossed the 
Danube and invaded Turkey 
with a large force. The war soon 
centered about Plevna, a place of 
great strategic importance, where a 
Turkish army was intrenched. After five 
months' desperate resistance this force 
capitulated. Through the snow and ice of 
the Balkan Mountains the Russians then 
pressed southward, and soon were within a 
hundred miles of Constantinople. The hos- 
tile attitude of Great Britain prevented fur- 
ther advance. In .March, 1878, Turkey 
signed the treaty of San Stefano (sta'-fa-no). 
If this had been allowed to stand, it would practically have 
destroyed the Turkish power in Europe. 

Great Britain and Austria, however, regarded the treaty as 
too favorable to Russia. To prevent a general European war, 
825. Con- an international congress was called at Berlin, in 1878, under 
?M-Un° ^^^ presidency of Bismarck. The result was a triumph 

(1878) for British and Austrian diplomacy, and a defeat for Russia. 

The new arrangements were more favorable to Turkey, but less 
satisfactory to the Christian communities of the Balkan penin- 
sula, than in the treaty of San Stefano. The chief provisions of 
the treaty of Berlin were the following : — 

1. The Russian frontier was extended to the mouth of the Danube. 

2. Herzegovina (her-tse-go-ve'na) and Bosnia were handed over to 

Austria to occupy and rule.^ 

3. The independent state of Montenegro received an Adriatic 

seaport. 

1 By a secret treaty the island of Cyprus was "leased" by Turkey to Great 
Britain, in reward for her friendship. During the revolution in Turkey in igog, 
Austria definitely annexed Herzegovina and Bosnia to the Austrian Empire (§ 863). 



THE EASTERN QUESTION 



679 



4. Servia, virtually independent since 1829, was made entirely so, 

with enlarged boundaries. 

5. Complete independence was given to Roumania, a country formed 

in 1 86 1 by the voluntary union of the semi-independent Danube 
principalities, Wallachia (w6-la'ki-a) and Molda'via. 




^ ViivB O S N I A .' 

■' c „ . \ S E R tV I A .i'^ 
■ V/../,;„,„/„!(,\ls7.-; 0^ 
OviKi.j^^ Kn.,j.lnm.''\S!y-l) ■<■:., 

•^ "^^-^i ,-,\ -- — . ■> / \.:;.:Plevna.? 




■'-\/ \ ■./ ^ 0.-','^^ EAST R.pu:M;E.;;:i-/r^^^ 

Scutari '/^ .''i^ '-. L " ~^ ~i-_. .i'' '\ . 



IV.. 






M 



E 



ipi.opolis\._- . r,,./^ ntiof 

• ■■"'—• ^^ ...AMidia vsvvv^^^ 

\SI^ sa ^ Brussa ^ 

\,efgW3'7#ESSAL'?V, ^e^^Jff 

IONIAN ' a"^:^ - :''^^:V^^ s e ^ 

S i: 4 r §\K ^yy''^Cf-^\ theiiMZ ^ ^.W"'" Smyrna 



7 



^ 



6 ?0 100 150 iix) 



SCALE OF MILES 



Boundary of Bulgaria according 
to the treaty of San Stefano 





^^ ^^^si^^O I 



^'/rhodes 



The Balkan States (1878-1886) 

6. Bulgaria was erected by the congress into a new Christian state, 
self-governing but tributary to Turkey. Its extent was to be 
less than half that provided in the treaty of San Stefano, but it 
was increased in 1886 by the annexation of East Roumelia as 
the result of a successful revolution. 



68o EASTERN QUESTION AND PARTITION OF AFRICA 

7. Greece, as a result of the congress and subsequent negotiations, 
secured Thessaly and part of Epirus.^ 

The general result of these arrangements was greatly to curtail 
Turkey in Europe, but the Christian populations were still left 
to the oppression of Mohammedan officials and soldiers. That 
the Eastern Question was not. solved was shown by the abomin- 
able ''Armenian massacres" carried out under direction of the 
Sultan's officials in 1 894-1 896, and by later attempts at revolu- 
tion in Macedonia. 

In Egypt, meanwhile, events were occurring which reduced 
the Sultan's rule to a bare tribute-receiving right, and paved 

826. Condi- ^^^ ^^y ^^^ ^^^ practical annexation to the British Empire, 
tions in All effective power of the Sultan had ceased there some 
Egypt ^jj^g before the Russo-Turkish War. Its governor had 

secured practical independence and hereditary transmission of 
his power, with the title of KJhedive. The completion of the 
Suez Canal, in 1869 (§ 719), facilitated the introduction of Euro- 
pean influence and customs, and again made Egypt a part of the 
chief shipping route to the East. The Khedive had received a 
large number of shares in the stock of the canal company, but 
his extravagance soon plunged the land into bankruptcy. His 
shares were then sold to the British government (1875), thereby 
giving it a controlling interest in that important waterway. 

To protect the financial interests of their subjects, to whom 
the Egyptian government owed large sums. Great Britain and 

827. British France finally intervened. The administration of Egyp- 
occupation ^-jg^j^ finances was intrusted to two comptrollers-general 
begun of their own appointment. In 1881 a revolt against this 
(1882) foreign control broke out under a military agitator named 

Arabi (a-ra'be). A massacre of Europeans took place at Alex- 
andria, and European intervention again became necessary. 
When France (to her subsequent regret) refused to cooperate 
in this. Great Britain acted alone. Alexandria was bombarded 

1 A rash war undertaken by Greece, in 1897, to wrest Crete from Turkey, ended 
in Turkish victory; but the intervention of the Powers made Crete a semi-inde- 
pendent Christian principality under Tiu-kish suzerainty. 



THE EASTERN QUESTION 68l 

by her fleet, and a British army defeated Arabi near Cairo 
(1882). Since these events Egypt has been under permanent 
British occupation, though the Khedive still reigns. 

The Eg5^tian province of the Sudan, or the upper Nile, was 
lost through a revolt headed by a Mohammedan fanatic styled 
the "Mahdi" (ma'de), or Prophet. The last Egyptian strong- 
hold in that province fell in 1885, when Khartum (kar- 828. Recon- 
toom') was taken, and the Anglo-Egyptian general, Gor- the Sudan 
don, was murdered. This disaster forced the British gov- (1898) 
ernment to take action. After ten years spent in preliminary 
organization, the Anglo-Eg3^tian troops under Kitchener began 
their advance. To reach the seat of trouble the railroad from 
Cairo was extended — in one place for two hundred and thirty 
miles across the desert. In 1898 the Mahdists were crushed and 
the lands about the upper Nile reoccupied. The railroad was 
afterwards completed to Khartum, a distance of twelve hundred 
miles from Cairo, and order and security were restored. 

The European conquest of former Turkish lands west of 
Egypt was begun when France seized Algeria, in the first half 
of the nineteenth century (§ 697). In 1881 France com- 829. The 
pelled the ruler of Tunis to sign a treaty which put that ^gg^ia ^^d 
country also under French protection. Tunis 

Italy had long had her eyes on this ancient Roman province, 
and resented the extension of French power there. As we have 
seen, it led her to join the Triple Alliance against France 830. Italy 
(§ 822). Circumstances, however, long prevented Italy Tripoli 
from any attempt to redress the balance in northern Africa. (1911-1912) 
The opportunity for this came when a revolution occurred in the 
government of Turkey (in 1909), which weakened Turkey's 
powers of resistance (§ 864). In September, 191 1, Italy de- 
manded that she be allowed to occupy the Turkish province of 
Tripoli, on the ground of misgovernment by its Turkish officials. 
The demand was refused, and war followed. The Italians im- 
mediately landed an army in Tripoli and began to occupy the 
country. They encountered little opposition, except from the 
fanatical Arabian tribesmen of the interior, for Italy's control 



682 EASTERN QUESTION AND PARTITION OF AFRICA 

of the sea prevented Turkey from sending troops to the seat of 
war. In the latter part of 19 12 the brewing storm of a new 
Balkan war forced Turkey to conclude peace with Italy. The 
following were its chief provisions : — 

1 . Italy was allowed to retain Tripoli (renamed Libya by the Italians) . 

2. The Aegean Islands were to be returned to Turkey. 

3. The religious authority of Constantinople over the Mohammedans 

in the conquered province was to be retained. 

4. Italy assumed that portion of the Turkish debt which was guaran- 

teed on the basis of the Libyan revenues. 

On the day following the signing of this peace with Italy, 
Turkey exchanged declarations of war with the Balkan states, 
g ^j^g Bulgaria, Servia, Greece, and Montenegro. The whole 
Balkan War peninsula, from the Aegean to the Adriatic, had long been 
(1912-1913) j.^pg ^^^J. ^^^ ^^^ rebellion. The purpose of the allies was 
to drive the Turks, "bag and baggage," out of Europe. They 
hoped to redeem that region from the curse of Turkish misrule 
which. for nearly five centuries had condemned it to barbarism. 
While the troops of the little kingdom of Montenegro laid siege 
to the near-by city of Scutari (skoo-ta're), the Bulgarian, 
Servian, and Greek armies advanced simultaneously into 
ancient Thrace and Macedonia. The Turks were forced to 
combat all three of these invasions at once. In spite of the 
training which had been given the Turkish army by German 
officers, it proved disorganized and inefiicient. There were 
divided counsels at headquarters (a result of the revolution of 
1909), and the arrangements for the transportation of supplies 
broke down completely. The armies of the allies, on the other 
hand, surprised the world by their efficiency. Within a month, 
the Servians took their former capital (Uskub), from which 
they had been expelled five hundred years before. The Greek 
army joined hands with Servian and Bulgarian contingents 
in Saloniki (sa-lo-ne'ke). The main army of the Bulgarians 
cut off Adrianople from the capital, and forced the chief 
body of the Turks back to within forty miles of Constantinople. 
During the winter the armies rested on their arms, but with 



THE EASTERN QUESTION 



683 



the coming of spring the war was resumed. The Bulgarians took 
Adrianople in March, and were then able to reenforce their army 
before Constantinople.^ After desperate fighting the Montene- 
grins secured Scutari (in April) ; but the determined opposition 
of Austria prevented their retaining it, and in May this impor- 
tant town was turned over to agents of the Great Powers. 




Bulgarian Infantry in Trenches before Adrianople 

For some years Austria had sought to extend its rule into the 
Balkan peninsula (§§ 742, 863), and had even dreamed of secur- 
ing an outlet to the Aegean Sea. The unexpected strength 832. Peace 

shown by the Christian Balkan states rudely shattered signed at 

-^ . •; . London 

these dreams. Austria was prevented from mtervenmg (May 30, 

in this struggle only by the knowledge that such a step ^9^^) 

would produce a gigantic European war, between the forces of the 

Triple Alliance on the one side and those of the Triple Entente 

on the other (§ 822). The efforts of the British minister of 

foreign affairs (Sir Edward Grey), seconded by those of Emperor 

William II of Germany, averted this danger. After long 

negotiations the efforts of the six Great Powers forced the Bal- 

iln March, 1913, the king of Greece was slain at Saloniki by a Greek anarchist. 
He was succeeded by his son Constantine. 



684 EASTERN QUESTION AND PARTITION OF AFRICA 



kan states to sign preliminary articles of peace (at London, 
May 30, 191 3). The terms of the peace included the following : 

1. Turkey was to cede all her European territory lying west of a line 

to be drawn from Midia on the Black Sea to Enos on the Aegean. 

2. The island of Crete was ceded to the Powers, and. to them was 

also left the disposal of the Aegean islands formerly possessed by 

Turkey. 







M 



■& 



3. An International 
Commission was to 
meet at Paris to 
settle (a) the distri- 
bution of the con- 
quered territory, 
and (6) the amount 
of the war indem- 
nity to be paid by 
Turkey, and other 
financial questions. 

By previous agree- 
ment among the Pow- 
ers it was arranged 
that Servia was to 
have a much needed 
seaport on the Adri- 
atic, together with 
commercial access to it 
through a neutralized 
belt of intervening territory. The mountain tribes of the former 
Turkish province of Albania were to be organized into a self- 
governing state, with Scutari as its chief city. 

Unfortunately the allies marred the glory of their victory by 

fighting among themselves. The Greeks and Servians were 

g ™. unwilling to carry out the treaty of alliance, concluded 

between before the war, under which the Bulgarians claimed the 

greater part of the conquered territory. Roumania, too, 

which had taken no part in the war, demanded from Bulgaria 

a territorial cession on the Black Sea as reward for her neutral- 




SCAUE OF MILES "^ ^ , ^ 

5 65 i5o ISO 260 '^K 



Territory Conquered from Turkey 

The exact extent of Albania, and the division of 
other lands ceded by Turkey, are (July, 1913) 
still to be settled. 



the allies 



THE PARTITION OF AFRICA 685 

ity. The aim was to prevent that state from securing a pre- 
dominance in the Balkans similar to that of Prussia in Ger- 
many. In July, 1 913, desperate fighting occurred. The 
Bulgarians were driven back from Saloniki by the Greeks, and 
from western Macedonia by the Servians, while the Roumanians 
advanced upon Sofia, the Bulgarian capital. At the same time 
the Turks reoccupied points beyond the Enos-Midia frontier. 
It was charged that the Bulgarians committed atrocities on the 
abandoned territory which " surpassed all the horrors of 
barbaric times and have proved that they no longer have a 
right to be reckoned among civilized peoples." The king of 
the Bulgarians denied this charge, and appealed to the Great 
Powers for their intervention. At the time of this writing 
(July, 1913), it is impossible to forecast the outcome. 

The one certain result is the practical ending of the Turkish 
Empire in Europe. The Eastern Question, in the form which 
it had presented since the beginning of the expulsion of the 
Turks in the seventeenth century, is at an end. But new Bal- 
kan questions, which undoubtedly will be long in settlement, 
have already arisen. These include the economic and political 
development of the freed populations, as well as their relations 
with one another, and with the Great Powers. 

C. The Partition of Africa 

Until the last quarter of the nineteenth century Africa re- 
mained "the Dark Continent." Little beyond its coast line 
was known. Even as late as 1875 geographies and atlases 834. Africa 
showed the great Kongo River as a small stream, with a before 1875 
course utterly unlike the true one. France had conquered 
Algeria; Great Britain held the Cape of Good Hope, Natal, 
and a few places on the west coast ; France, Spain, and Por- 
tugal possessed a few unimportant trading stations. With 
these exceptions, no Christian country had thought it worth 
while to occupy African territory. Considerably less than one 
tenth of Africa was claimed by European Powers. Until Italy 



/ / / Cy ,rj__,.,' AUSTRIA- >.,\ fl 

/ / / 5/ •.-_/■;,--•, HUNGARY-., I »U_, 




Aprica in 1913 

Liberia and Abyssinia were independent states. The rest of Africa was divided 
into possessions and protectorates of other powers, as follows : (i) Great Britain — 
all the areas colored red on the map, including Cape of Good Hope, Rhodesia, etc. ; 
(2) France — all the areas colored purple, including Algeria, Tunis, etc.; (3) Ger- 
many — all the African areas colored yellow ; (4) Portugal — Portuguese Guinea, 
Angola, and Portuguese East Africa; (5) Italy — Eritrea, Italian Somaliland, 
and Tripoli; (6) Belgium — Belgian Kongo ; (7) Spain — Rio de Oro. Egypt was 
claimed as a tributary state by Turkey, but it was practically under the control 
of Great Britain. 

6S6 



■ THE PARTITION OF AFRICA 687 

and Germany had achieved their unity, Europe was occupied 
with the solution of internal problems. With these tasks com- 
pleted, European governments began to direct their attention, 
as never before, to the mysterious continent of Africa. 

Considerable progress, however, had already been made in 
African exploration. Arab traders and slave raiders had long 
visited its interior; but it was not until the middle of g _ E^pio. 
the nineteenth century that devoted missionaries and ration of 
scientific explorers began to reveal the geography of those ^"*^* 
regions. In the second half of the century this work went on 
apace. In 1858 the great lake called Victoria Nyanza (the 
source of the Nile) was discovered. The greatest of African 
explorers was Dr. David Livingstone, a British missionary who 
spent thirty years in repeated expeditions into the interior. He 
endured incredible hardships in a hostile country, often with 
only three or four natives for companions, and died there in 
1873. Next to him ranks the Anglo-American Henry M. Stan- 
ley, whose explorations in 1877 made known the great water- 
way of the Kongo, leading into the heart of the continent. 

One great obstacle to 'European progress in Africa (aside 
from its lack of good harbors) was the existence of a ring of 
mountain chains close to the coast, making difficult all 836. Kongo 
access to the "hinterland." The discovery of the Kongo founded 
■ River opened up, for the first time, an easy avenue to the (1883) 
vast and inhospitable interior. The Belgian king, Leopold II, 
was the first to see the opportunity afforded by Stanley's dis- 
covery. He had already formed the plan of founding in Africa 
a great state through the combined action of manufacturers 
and traders (who sought Africa's commercial development), 
and of missionaries and philanthropists (who wished to Chris- 
tianize the natives and to stop the horrors perpetrated by 
Arab slave catchers). Under King Leopold's patronage, Stan- 
ley in 1879 led an expedition from the west coast up the 
Kongo River to take possession of its vast basin. His chief 
station, named Leopoldville, was established on Stanley Pool, 
where the Kongo broadens out before breaking, in a series 



688 EASTERN QUESTION AND PARTITION OF AFRICA 

of rapids and cataracts, through the mountain barrier which 
separates the upland interior from the coast. The Kongo Free 
State was definitely organized in 1883, with Leopold as king. 
A railroad was buUt around the rapids, and above them steam 
navigation was established for a thousand mUes. The slave trade, 
as formerly carried on, was abolished; and an enormous com- 
merce in rubber, founded on forced labor (often exacted with 
great cruelty), was built up. Toward the close of the nineteenth 
century loud outcries were raised, in England and America, 
against the harsh and cruel treatment inflicted on the natives 
by Belgian agents. As a result, an arrangement was made in 
1908, between King Leopold and the Belgian Parliament, by 
which the Kongo State ceased to be an independent state and 
became a Belgian colony. The worst of the evils complained 
of were remedied, but stories are still heard, from time to time, 
of Belgian cruelties in the Kongo colony. 

The British occupation of Egypt and the founding of the 
Kongo State precipitated a wild scramble of European Powers 
8 7 Th ^^^ African territory. The lead in this movement was 
partition taken by Germany, which was beginning to feel the need 
of Africa ^^ colonial outlets for her rapidly expanding industry and 
population. South America was closed to her by the Monroe 
Doctrine, and other European nations held most of the regions 
elsewhere where colonization was possible. Germany's attention 
turned therefore to Africa. In 1884, as a result of secretly 
negotiated treaties with native chiefs, the German flag was 
raised over Togoland and Kamerun (ka-ma-roon') on the west 
coast. In subsequent years, and by similar methods, the col- 
onies of German Southwest Africa and German East Africa were 
acquired. The other European Powers soon joined in the com- 
petition for African territory. The rules under which annexa- 
tions should be regarded as valid were laid down by a congress 
of the Powers held in Berlin in the winter of 1884-1885. 

At the present time there is scarcely a foot of unclaimed ter- 
ritory in the vast African continent. In future ages the occu- 
pation of Africa will probably be looked upon as an event in 



THE PARTITION OF AFRICA 



689 



history which ranks with the European occupation of America 
in the seventeenth century, and the British occupation of 
Austraha at the beginning of the nineteenth. The amazing 
thing is that the partition should have been made without pro- 
voking a single European war. In only two cases has serious 
friction arisen between the Great Powers over African territory. 
The first case was in 1898, when England and France very nearly 
came to blows over a district in the Upper Nile valley (the 
"Fashoda incident"). The second concerned Morocco, where 
Germany emphatically objected to the establishing of a French 




Scene on Uganda Railroad, Africa 



protectorate. The latter dispute was settled in 191 1, when 
France bought off Germany's claims in Morocco by ceding to 
her a part of French Equatorial Africa. Spain also received 
part of the Moroccan coast. 

A few words may be said in conclusion concerning the hold- 
ings of each of the European Powers in Africa. The Belgian 
and the German territories have already been indicated. 838. Pres- 
The British possessions (including Egypt, and the former ®°* ^"^°" 
Boer republics whose conquest is described in chap, xxxiii) sessions in 
are the most extensive and valuable. The development Afnca 
of South Africa was largely due to Cecil Rhodes, whose dream 
it was to establish a "Cape to Cairo" railway, intended to 



690 EASTERN QUESTION AND PARTITION OF AFRICA 

unite the greater part of eastern Africa in one territorial mass 
under English rule. This road will doubtless be completed, 
but it must pass in part through German East Africa. The 
French possessions, starting from Algeria, stretch out over a 
vast extent of the Sahara and the Sudan, and include a consider- 
able territory on the right bank of the Kongo River, together 
with the island of Madagascar (annexed 1882-1896). The 
Portuguese retain considerable possessions on the east and 
west coasts, but bad government niakes them of little profit. 
The Spanish possessions are few and small. Italy, emulating 
the other states, established colonies on the Red Sea and the 
Indian Ocean; but these lands are barren, and her experience 
there has been disastrous- Tripoli (Libya), because of its 
nearness to Italy, promises to be of more value. Abyssinia 
continues independent. Morocco is succumbing before the 
advance of France and Spain. Throughout Africa railways, tele- 
graph lines, and European commerce are making rapid progress. 
It is open to speculation whether Africa may not, by the year 
2000, be as far advanced economically and politically as South 
America was in 1900, after four centuries of European occupa- 
tion. 

IMPORTANT DATES 

1883. Triple Alliance formed between Germany, Austria, and Italy. 

1891. Dual Alliance of France and Russia announced. 

1 877-1 878. War between Russia and Turkey ; Congress of Berlin. 

1882. British occupation of Egypt begun. 

1883. Kongo State formed. 

1884. Partition of Africa among the European Powers. 
1911-1912. Italy takes TripoU from Turkey. 
1912-1913. War of the Balkan allies against Turkey. 

TOPICS AND REFERENCES 

Suggestive Topics. — (i) Who was chiefly responsible for the conditions 
which produced the "armed peace" of Europe? (2) What arguments can 
be advanced in favor of the Triple and the Dual alliances ? What argu- 
ments against them ? (3) Compare the present Concert of the Powers 
with the Grand Alliance after 1815. (4) Why did Russia go to war with 



TOPICS AND REFERENCES 691 

Turkey in 1877 ? (5) Was Great Britain justified in intervening in Eg3^t? 
(6) Point out on the map the territory lost by Turkey in 1878, in 191 2, 
and in 1913. (7) Point out on the map the territory now remaining to 
Turkey in liurope. Compare this with its extent in 1789 (map, p. 483)., 
(8) Why did the partition of Africa come just when it did ? (9) Of what 
vakie to European powers are their African possessions? (10) Of what 
vakie to Africa is European colonization ? 

Search Topics. — (i) The Triple and Dual Alliances. Hazen, 
Europe Since 1S15, 319-322; Phillips, Modern Europe, 525-534; Rose, 
Development of European Nations, II, ch. i. — (2) Earlier Stages of the 
Eastern Question. Hazen, 601-616; Seignobos, Europe Since 1814, 
ch. XX ; Encyclopedia Britannica, VIII, 831-832; Robinson and Beard, 
Development of Modern Europe, II, 303-309. — (3) Russo-Turkish War. 
Robinson and Beard, Z^CTeZo^mewi, II, 309-311 ; Hazen, 617-624; Phillips, 
491-515; FySe, Modern Europe, 1022-1045. — {4) Congress of Berlin. 
Hazen, 624-627; Phillips, 515-519; FyiJe, 1045-1052.- — ^(5) British Oc- 
cupation OF Egypt. Hazen, 557-563; Rose, II, 143-227; Johnston, 
Colonization of Africa, 231-235; Penfield, Present Day Egypt, II, ch. x. — 
(6) Italian Turkish War of 1911-1912. See yearbooks and indexes to 
periodical literature for 1911 and 191 2. — (7) Growth of the Christian 
Balkan States. Hazen, 627-636; Philhps, 519-523; Rose, I, ch. x. — 

(8) The Balkan War of 1912-1913. See yearbooks and indexes to 
periodical literature. Wagner, With the Victorious Bulgarians ; Ashmead- 
Bartlett, With the Turks in Thrace; Campbell, The Balkan War Drama. — • 

(9) David Livingstone. Encyclopedia Britannica, XVI, 813-815; 
Hughes, David Livingstone; Stanley, How I Found Livingstone. — (10) 
Henry M. Stanley. Encyclopedia Britannica, XXV, 779-781 ; Stanley, 
Autobiography. — (11) Stanley's Descent of the Kongo. Stanley, 
Autobiography, ch. xv; Stanley, Through the Dark Continent. — (12) Found- 
ing OF the Kongo State. Hazen, 550-557; Johnston, Colonization of 
Africa, ch. xi; Rose, II, 269-298; Encyclopedia Britannica, VI, 917-922; 
Stanley, Autobiography, ch. xvi; Wack, Story of the Congo Free State, 
chs. ii-iii. — (13) Germany's African Colonies. Johnston, Colonization 
of Africa; Keltie, Partition of Africa; Encyclopedia Britannica, 'Xl, 800- 
803. — (14) The Morocco Question. Encyclopedia Britannica, XVIII, 
858-859; yearbooks and indexes to periodical literature. 

General Reading. — See the articles in the Encyclopedia Britannica 
(nth ed.) on the Eastern Question, Turkey, Greece, Roumania, Bulgaria, 
Servia, and Egypt. Villari, The Balkan Question; " Odysseus," Turkey in 
Europe. For Africa, in addition to the works cited above, see Africa and 
its Exploration, as Told by its. Explorers (2 vols.) ; Brown, Story of Africa 
(4 vols.) ; Cana, South Africa from the Great Trek to the Union. 



CHAPTER XXXV 

AWAKENING OF THE FAR EAST, AND THE RUSSO- 
JAPANESE WAR 

A. The Awakening of China and Japan 

The Far East is likely for some time to be a storm center of 
world politics. Until about 1840, the history of this part of the 
839- Mon- world ran in a separate channel from that of Europe. 
Chinese Hordes of Asiatics — Huns in the fifth century, Bul- 
(1200-1840) garians in the seventh, Magyars in the tenth, and Turks 
in the fourteenth — invaded Europe ; and Jenghiz Khan (died 
1227) and his successors established a Mongol empire which 
stretched from Poland to the Pacific Ocean, and held Russia 
in subjection for more than two centuries. Now, however, the 
tide of invasion is turned the other way, and Europe is trans- 
forming Asia. 

China is one of the most ancient civilized countries of the 
world. Its great religious teacher, Confucius, flourished five 
hundred years before Christ. The Mongol rule, established 
by Jenghiz Khan, lasted until 1368; then for three hundred 
years China was ruled by Emperors of the Ming dynasty. In 
the seventeenth century the Manchu Tartars overthrew the 
Ming dynasty, and in spite of various unsuccessful movements 
for the restoration of native rule, the Manchu government lasted 
until recent days. With the accession of the Ming dynasty, 
China shut her doors to other nations. Although in the six- 
teenth and seventeenth centuries some commerce was estab- 
lished with Europeans, it was restricted to a single port — 
Canton. 

The first effective breach in the barrier with which China 
surrounded herself was made by the unjust "Opium War" 

694 



THE AWAKENING OF CHINA AND JAPAN 695 

waged by Great Britain, in 1840-1842, to compel the admis- 
sion of opium from India. By the treaty which ended that 
war, the island of Hongkong was ceded to Great Britain, 840. Open- 
and Shanghai (shang-ha'i) and three other ports were J^^^a ° 
opened to British trade on the same terms as Canton. (1840-1884) 
Commercial treaties with the United States, France, and other 
countries soon followed. In 1857-1860 the British, in alliance 
with the French, waged a second war upon China, and Peking 
was taken. This war secured the toleration of Christianity and 
the admission of resident ambassadors to the Chinese capital. 
New "treaty ports" were opened up to European trade, the 
number ultimately rising to more than forty, and China's age- 
long seclusion came to an end. France meanwhile acquired 
rights in China's former dependency of Anam, which (largely 
at the expense of the kingdoms of Cambodia and Siam) have 
grown into the great French protectorate of Indo-China. 

Equally important with the opening up of China was the 
awakening of Japan. The Emperor of Japan (sometimes called 
the Mikado) had early lost much of his power to the Shogun 841. Awak- 
(sho'goon), the hereditary commander of the army ; and a j^^n 
sort of feudal system had arisen in which local authority (1637) 
was vested in lords called daimios (di'mi-oz), who were practically 
vassals of the Shogun. In this system the Emperors played a 
part roughly similar to that of the Frankish kings of the seventh 
and eighth centuries, while the Shoguns corresponded to the 
"mayors of the palace" (§ 21). Christianity was introduced 
into Japan in the seventeenth century, but its followers were 
suspected of political aims, and in 1637 its acceptance by the 
Japanese was forbidden. At the same time natives were for- 
bidden to leave the country under penalty of death. For two 
centuries thereafter, Japan, like China and Korea, was practi- 
cally a "hermit nation." 

The credit of opening Japan to Western commerce and ideas 
belongs to Commodore Perry, of the United States navy, who 
in 1854 induced the Shogun to conclude a treaty opening up 
Yokoha'ma and two other ports to trade. Great Britain, 



696 



AWAKENING OF THE FAR EAST 



Russia, and France quickly followed with similar treaties. For 
a time there was trouble growing out of Japanese conservatism 
and hatred of foreigners, but this speedily died down. In 1867 
the progressive Emperor Mutsuhito (moot'soo-he'to) came to 
the throne. In his reign, which lasted until 191 2, Japan leaped 
the chasm of centuries in acquiring European science and in 
material progress. First, the Shogun was overthrown and the 
feudal system entirely suppressed. Swarms of Japanese stu- 
dents were then sent to Europe and America for education, where 
they showed a remarkable power to assimilate 
Western culture in all its branches. Under 
these influences Japan was revolutionized in its 
government, its industry, and its educational and 
military systems. A constitution was proclaimed 
in 1889, by which the administration was placed in 
the hands of ministers responsible to the Emperor, 
and the legislative power was vested in an Imperial 
Diet of two houses. No other case in history can 
be found of so complete a transformation in so 
short a time. 

The first test of Japan's new military institu- 
tions came in 1894. In that year war broke out 
842. War with China through rival pretensions over 
between |-]^g kingdom of Kore'a. The Japanese 
China navy, built in the best shipyards of Europe, 

(1 894-1 895) speedily sank the Chinese fleet ; and the Japanese army, 
drilled and equipped in European fashion, was completely 
victorious over China's antiquated forces. All Korea was 
occupied; Port Arthur and Weihaiwei (wa'hi-wa'), on opposite 
sides of the entrance to the Gulf of Pechili (pa'che-le), were 
captured ; and Peking itself was threatened. China then made 
peace, through her great viceroy and diplomat, Li Hung Chang 
(le'hoong'changO- Its terms included the renunciation of her 
claims in Korea, the payment of an indemnity, and the cession 
to Japan of Port Arthur and the island of Formosa. 

This treaty was too favorable to Japan to suit the European 




Japanese 
Soldier 



THE AWAKENING OF CHINA AND JAPAN 697 

Powers, for they had their own designs upon Chinese possessions. 
Russia, France, and Germany joined in forcing Japan to give 
up her conquests on the mainland, and to content herself g ^y^o- 
with Formosa and an increased indemnity. Then Ger- pean powers 
many, to obtain "satisfaction" for the murder of German ^^ ^*^* 
missionaries, seized the port of Kiauchau (kyou'chou'), in 1897, 
and forced its lease from China as a coaling and naval station 
for ninety-nine years. Germany also secured the grant to her 
subjects of a first right to construct railroads, open mines, etc., 
in the adjoining province. Early in 1898 Russia secured Port 
Arthur by a similar lease for twenty-five years, thus obtaining 
what she did not hitherto possess — a port on the Pacific which 
was free from ice the year round. Russia also received a con- 
cession to build a railroad from Port Arthur to join her Trans- 
Siberian railway (§ 849). This concession became a pretext for 
treating Chinese Manchuria as practically Russian territory. 
To restore the balance of power in the Gulf of Pechili, Great 
Britain leased Weihaiwei, and also secured a grant of about 
two hundred square miles on the mainland opposite Hong- 
kong. France in turn seized a port in the south, and extorted 
concessions for the development of the southern provinces. 

For a time it looked as if the appetites of the European Powers 
for territory and trade, which had been merely whetted and not 
dulled by their seizures in Africa, would repeat in China 844. China 
the tragic drama which the eighteenth century had wit- dismembCT- 
nessed in Poland. That China was saved from this fate ment 
was due to a number of causes. Among these were the greater 
publicity now given to international events by the cable and 
the press, the mutual jealousies of the Powers, and the watchful 
hostility of Japan. The insistent demand of the United States 
and Great Britain for equality of commercial and industrial 
opportunities — known as the policy of "the open door" — 
was also a factor in saving China from dismemberment. 

China herself, moreover, showed a strength and a power of 
adaptation, in the face of these events, which hitherto had been 
unsuspected. She awoke from her sleep of centuries, and began 



698 



AWAKENING OF THE FAR EAST 



to adopt many of the improvements of the West. Concessions 
to foreigners multipHed rapidly after the war with Japan. A 
railroad from Peking to Tientsin was built by the government, 
and arrangements were made for the construction with foreign 
capital of other lines thousands of miles in length. Telegraph 
lines were extended; electric roads, electric lights, and tele- 
phones were introduced in the chief cities; and the principal 
rivers and canals were opened to 
Western commerce. At the same 
time Chinese students, following 
the example of the Japanese, be- 
gan to go in large numbers (often 
at government expense) to Europe 
and to America, where they studied 
Western ways and acquired Euro- 
pean civilization and learning. 

The young Emperor (Kuang- 
Hsu) favored the introduction of 

8 The Western civilization. His 

Boxer War aunt, the empress dowager, 

^^9°°^ opposed this, and in 1898, 

by a coup d'etat, she resumed the 
power she had exercised during 
the Emperor's minority. As a 
result of her influence there oc- 
curred in 1900 a rising against for- 
eigners, headed by the "Boxers," 

one out of many Chinese secret societies. Christian missionaries 
• and their converts were massacred, and the foreign embassies in 
Peking were besieged. To rescue them, the Great Powers of 
Europe, together with Japan and the United States, formed a 
joint army, which fought its way to Peking and released the 
legations. The empress dowager was forced to make peace, 
with abject apologies, and to pay large money indemnities. 

Not long after this occurred one of the greatest events of 
recent years, profoundly affecting the situation throughout the 




Empress Dowager of China 



RUSSIA AFTER THE CRIMEAN WAR 699 

whole of Asia — the successful war waged by the Japanese 
against the great and domineering empire of Russia. But before 
we take up this event, we must turn back and trace the history 
of Russia since the Crimean War. 

B. Russia after the Crimean War 

The Tsar Alexander II, who had signed the peace which ter- 
minated the Crimean War (§ 723), took a great step towards 
converting Russia into a modern state by freeing its serfs. 846. Serf- 
More than half of the seventy-odd millions of European a^^ished 
Russia were still in a condition of absolute serfdom. (1861) 
The masters had the right "to sell their peasants and domestic 
servants, not even in families, but one by one, like cattle." 
The only restriction was that they should not be sold by auction, 
since this was "unbecoming in a European state." The Cri- 
mean War had revealed great disorder, weakness, and corruption 
in the Russian government, and this revelation gave a powerful 
stimulus in Russia to Liberal movements of all kinds. After 
long study an edict emancipating the serfs was issued in 1861 

— ofi the eve of the Civil War in the United States which put 
an end to negro slavery in our own land. By this decree forty 
million hurnan beings were released from bondage. But the 
scanty lands which they received were charged with heavy 
annual payments to indemnify their former masters, and the 
peasants themselves — impoverished, brutalized, and ignorant 

— were bound to their village communities as they formerly 
had been to the estates of their masters. Although freed from 
personal serfdom, they were far from attaining economic and 
political freedom. In some respects the condition of the peasant 
became worse than it had been before the emancipation. 

Disappointment at the failure to obtain a political constitu- 
tion from Alexander II caused an opposition party to 847. Nihilist 
arise, principally among young university students, and ^^^ ^^_ 
this gradually became revolutionary. To a policy of arbi- action 
trary arrests, imprisonment in foul dungeons, and transporta- 



700 AWAKENING OF THE FAR EAST 

tion to Siberia, the Nihilist secret societies replied by a policy 
of terrorism based on assassination. In March, 1881, the Tsar 
himself was assassinated by the hurling of a nitroglycerin 
bomb against his carriage. That very day he had signed a 
"ukase," or decree, which would have laid the foundations of 
constitutional government by establishing a consultative as- 
sembly. His son, Alexander III (1881-1894), revoked this 
decree, and during the whole of this reign, and in the first ten 
years of that of his son Nicholas II, a reactionary policy pre- 
vailed.. Terrorists were hunted down, the press was gagged, and 
exile to Siberia was freely used to check Liberal opinions. 

The chief feature, however, of the history of Russia in the 

latter half of the nineteenth century was its steady advance in 

848. Rus- Asia. Seven great European wars, from the time of 

sianad- Peter the Great to the Congress of Berlin (1711-1878), 
vance on ° \ / / / 7 

India had brought Russia only meager results. A frontage on 

the Baltic and Black seas was acquired, but their outlets re- 
mained under the control of other Powers. In Asia much 
greater results could be shown. Her policy there was two- 
fold:— 

(i) It included a southward expansion toward India and the 
Arabian Sea. This movement produced numerous wars and 
treaties with Persia, Afghanistan, and Great Britain. By 1828 
the beginning was made of an ascendancy in Persia, which has 
since been strengthened by diplomacy, money loans, and rail- 
way buUding.^ Russian Turkestan was annexed, Khiva and 
Bokhara were made vassal states, and in 1884 the Russian 
frontier was pushed to the borders of Afghanistan. The 
northern half of the Pamir plateau — the "roof of the world," 
which commands the ramparts of India — was acquired in 1893. 
This advance of Russia in Central Asia seriously threatened the 
security of British India, for the Russian frontier and railway 
terminal (at Kushk) were but seventy-five miles from Herat 
(her-atO, which was long regarded as "the key to India." It 
is this conflict of interests in Asia which explains the long dip- 

1 For the recent history of Russia and Great Britain in Persia, see § 866. 



RUSSIA AFTER THE CRIMEAN WAR 70I 

lomatic antagonism between Russia and England, manifesting 

itself in their opposing attitudes on the Eastern Question in 

Europe, and elsewhere. Their antagonism was not allayed 

until 1907, when the formation of the Triple Entente (§ 822) 

removed the chief causes of friction between the two countries. 

(2) The second feature of Russia's policy in Asia was her 

advance to the Pacific, through Siberian colonization, the 

building of the Trans-Siberian railway, and intervention 849. Siberia 

in China and Korea. The Russian colonization of Siberia ^^^ *® 

Trans- 
— like the settlement of the western parts of the United Siberian 

States — has been a natural and peaceable expansion, railway 

"To become a colonist, there is no ocean to cross, no steamboat 

fare to pay. The poorest peasant, a staff in his hand, an ax 

at his belt, his boots slung from a cord over his shoulder, ^ , 

, . . Rambaud, in 

can pass from one halting place to another, until he reaches international 
the ends of the empire." The early Siberian settlers were Mo^^MV' H. 
gold hunters, trappers, fur traders, fugitive serfs, and 
transported criminals. A treaty with China in 1689 fixed the 
boundaries of the two lands until 1858, when Russia ex- 
torted the cession of northern Manchuria and the whole left 
bank of the Amur (a-moor') River. Maritime Manchuria (in- 
cluding Vladivostok') was acquired in i86o. In 1 895-1 902 the 
Russian government took a step of supreme importance in 
making accessible, and hence valuable, these vast possessions 
by constructing the Trans-Siberian railway, nearly 5000 miles 
long. Wholly apart from its military value, it is esti- Rambaud 
mated that in the commerce of the world this road "will (as above), 
work as important a revolution as did the discovery of the ^ 
Cape of Good Hope in the fifteenth century, or the construc- 
tion of the Suez Canal in the nineteenth." 

The total area of the Russian Empire is more than twice 
that of the whole of Europe, and is about one sixth of the land 
surface of the globe. Its inhabitants number 130,000,000, or 
about one twelfth of the earth's popiilation. Less than one 
fourth of this population, however, is included in Russia's vast 
Asiatic possessions. 



702 



AWAKENING OF THE FAR EAST 



Russian control, 
to a Russian 



The 



C. The Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905) 

The causes of the Russo-Japanese War are to be found in 
the energetic and unscrupulous way in which Russia, after the 
850. Russo- completion of the Trans-Siberian railway, pushed her 
War be^n commercial and political interests in the Far East. At the 
(1904) time of the Boxer troubles she had taken possession of 

Chinese Manchuria, under j pretext of safeguarding her 
railroad and other interests / there, -promising to evacuate 
it when peace should be / restored. But instead of evacu- 
ating that province, / Russia strengthened her hold on 
it. A disposition was / also shown to bring Korea under' 
/ means used was a concession granted 
" company to cut timber in the Yalu 
(ya-loo') valley, which became an ex- 
cuse for building forts and introduc- 
ing Cossack soldiers into that region. 
Japan was already smarting under 
the check administered to 
her by the Powers after 
her victorious war with 
China, and was also in 
urgent need of an out- 
let on the Asiatic con- 
tinent for her growing 
manufactures and popu- 
lation. She looked with 
bitter hostility upon this 
extension . of Russian 
power, for it menaced 
her prosperity and independence. Long negotiations took 
place, in which no less than ten draft treaties were successively 
discussed, without coming to a conclusion. At last Japan 
resolved to resort to war, and "her military and naval prepara- 
tions, unlike those of Russia, kept pace with her diplomacy." ^ 

1 France, Russia's ally, was deterred from actively aiding Russia in the war by 
an alliance of England with Japan, which would become efiective in case Japan 




Cossack 

Russian light cavalryman; formerly Russia's 
most renowned soldiery, but of Uttle use in 
war as now waged. 



THE RUSSO-JAPANESE WAR 703 

Three days after the war opened, the Japanese surprised 
the Russian fleet at Port Arthur (February 8, 1904). They 
torpedoed two battleships and two cruisers, and "bottled g p^jj 
up " the rest of the fleet by blockading that harbor. These of Port 
exploits gave the Japanese the command of the sea, an ^ 
advantage which they thenceforth retained. Korea was occu- 
pied, and the Russians were driven from the Yalu River. By 
May 28, the Japanese lines had been drawn across the Liao- 
tong (le-ou'tongO peninsula, and Port Arthur was cut off on 
the land side. There followed a seven months' siege, marked 
by unparalleled suffering, which was ended on January i, 1905, 
by Port Arthur's surrender. 

Meanwhile, the Russian army was disastrously defeated at 
Liaoyang (le-ou'yang') in September, 1904, and forced to fall 
back upon Mukden'. The winter was passed by both g ^j^^ 
armies intrenched amid snow and ice, under conditions Mukden 
of great suffering, especially for the Russians, for whose <^^™P^sn 
supply the single-track line of the Trans-Siberian railway 
proved inadequate. The arrival in the Japanese camp of 
the Port Arthur army, with its heavy siege guns, enabled the 
Japanese, after fifteen days' severe fighting, to drive the Rus- 
sians from Mukden (March 10, 1905). The Russian losses, in 
killed, wounded, and captured, numbered more than 100,000. 
Their broken and disorganized army was then forced back 
toward Harbin (har-ben'), the junction point with the main 
line of the Trans-Siberian railway. 

A new Russian fleet, meanwhile, was making the long voyage 
from the Baltic around the Cape of Good Hope. Its vessels 
were ill-equipped, and the crews were mutinous, demoral- 853. Battle 
ized, and ill-led. When the fleet reached Japanese waters, °f japan * 
it was annihilated (May 27-29) by Admiral To'go in the (May, 1905) 
battle of the Sea of Japan, — one of the greatest naval battles 
in history. Without serious damage to a single Japanese ship, 
nineteen vessels of the enemy were sunk or captured. Russia's 

were attacked by more than one power. Troubles with Germany over Morocco 
(§ 837) also tied her hands. 



704 AWAKENING OF THE FAR EAST 

naval power was thereby destroyed, and her cause was rendered 
hopeless. Soon after, the Japanese reoccupied the island of 
Sakhalin (sa-xa-lyen'), from which Russia had driven them in 
1875. They also began to close in upon Vladivostok. 

The efforts of President Roosevelt of the United States 
brought about a meeting of representatives of the two Powers 
854. Treaty (at Portsmouth, New Hampshire) in August, 1905, to 
mouth ' discuss terms of peace. The demand of Japan for the 
(1905) cession of Sakhalin Island and for the payment of an 

indemnity to reimburse her for the cost of the war threatened 
for a time to break up the conference. The appeals of Pres- 
ident Roosevelt, however, finally brought about a compromise. 
Japan abandoned the claim for an indemnity, but gained all 
the points for which she had undertaken the war. The terms 
of the treaty were as follows : — 

1. Japan's paramount interest in Korea was recognized.* 

2. Russia agreed to evacuate Chinese Manchuria. 

3. Her lease of the Liao-tong peninsula, together with the southern 

half of the Port Arthur railway, were ceded to Japan. 

4. Japan was also given the southern half of Sakhalin Island, to- 

gether with special fishing rights on the Siberian coast. 

The Russo-Japanese War was an event of very great im- 
portance, not only for the Powers immediately concerned, but 
g p _ for China, America, and the whole world. It involved 
suits of the future fate of China, and the control of the Pacific ; 

the war ^^^ these are questions of vital importance to America 
and Australia, as well as to Asia and Europe. The unexpected 
ability displayed by the Japanese insures for the "yellow 
peoples " of Asia the prospect of an independent future, parallel 
with that of the white races. It has been suggested that the 
recent development of China and Japan may prove to be of 
more importance in the world's history than any events which 
have occurred since Greece saved Europe from Persian conquest, 
more than two thousand years ago. 

1 In 1910 Japan forced the emperor of Korea to abdicate, and formally annexed 
that country. 



TOPICS AND REFERENCES 705 



IMPORTANT DATES 

1840-1842. The British " Opium War " begins the opening of China to 

Europeans. 
1854. Commodore Perry induces Japan to open its ports. 
1 86 1. Serfdom abolished in Russia. 
1894-1895. War between China and Japan. 
1 897-1 898. Seizure of Chinese ^rritory by Germany, Russia, Great 

Britain, and France. 
1900. The Boxer War. 
1902. Trans-Siberian railway completed. 
1904-1905. Russo-Japanese War. 

TOPICS AND REFERENCES 

Suggestive Topics. — (i) Were the Western powers justified in forcing 
China to open her ports to foreigners? (2) What difference was there 
between the opening of the ports of Japan and that of China ? (3) How do 
you account for the rapid development of Japan since 1867 ? (4) Why was 
the development less rapid in China ? (5) What effect did its defeat by 
Japan have upon China? (6) Was the interference of Russia, Germany, 
and France after that war Just or unjust ? (7) Compare the attitude of 
the European powers towards China with the dealings of Russia, Prussia, 
and Austria with Poland in the eighteenth century. (8) What has saved 
China so far from the fate of Poland ? (9) Compare the Boxer movement 
with anti-Chinese movements in this country. (10) Compare the condition 
of Russia before 1861 with that of the other European countries. (11) Com- 
pare the emancipation of the Russian serfs with the abolition of negro slav- 
ery in the United States. (12) Did the terrorist methods of the Russian 
revolutionaries help or hinder their cause? (13) Compare the eastward 
advance of Russia in Siberia with the westward growth of the United 
States. (14) What railway in the United States played a part analogous 
to that of the Trans-Siberian railway ? Is it likely that railways will have 
as much influence in Africa? (15) Was Japan in the right in going to war 
with Russia when and in the manner she did ? (16) Of what advantage was 
it to the Japanese to shut up the Russian fleet at Port Arthur ? (17) Com- 
pare the siege of Port Arthur with that of Sebastopol in the Crimean War. 

(18) What reasons can you give for the success of the Japanese? 

(19) Compare the number of men engaged in Manchuria on each side with 
the numbers in Napoleon's campaigns, and in our Civil War. 

Search Topics. — (i) Early Relations of Europe with China. 
Robinson and Beard, Development of Modern Europe, II, 331-338; Hazen, 
Europe Since 181 5, 681-687; Douglus, Europe and the Far East, 41-90; 



7o6 AWAKENING OF THE FAR EAST 

— (2) Awakening of Japan. Robinson and Beard, Development, II, 
338-343; Hazen, 687-695; Douglas, 169-209; Robinson and Beard, 
Readings, II, 424-433. — (3) War Between China and Japan. Hazen, 
695-698; Robinson and Beard, Development, II, 343-346; Douglas, 304- 
322; Encyclopedia Britannica, VI, 233-234; Robinson and Beard, Read- 
ings, II, 433-435. — (4) The Boxer War. Douglas, 323-360; Encyclo- 
pedia Britannica, VI, 203-206; Robinson and Beard, Readings, II, 435-441. 

— (5) Progress of China. Reinsch, World Politics, 85-195 ; Douglas, 
256-284; Encyclopedia Britannica, VI, 207-209; Robinson and Beard, 
Readings, II, 441-444. — (6) Russian Abolition of Serfdom. Hazen, 
655-661; Seignobos, Europe Since 1814, 603-608; Rambaud, History of 
Russia, III, 212-228; Robinson and Beard, Readings, II, 345-352. — 
(7) Absolute Government and Nihilist Plots. Hazen, 666-672; Rob- 
inson and Beard, Development, II, 275-280 ; Encyclopedia Britannica, XXIII, 
905, XIX, 686-688; ^ose, Development of Modern Nations; Rambaud and 
others, The Case of Russia, 257-292. — (8) Economic Development of 
Russia. Robinson and Beard, Development, II, 280-281 ; Skrine, Expan- 
sion of Russia, 313-321 ; Ogg, Social Progress in Contemporary Europe, 
1 19-221. — (9) Russian Expansion in Asia. Robinson and Beard, 
Development, II, 262-264; Rambaud and others. The Case of Russia, 57- 
135 ; Robinson and Beard, Readings, II, 354-359. — (10) Trans-Siberian 
Railway. Goodrich, Russia in Europe and Asia, ch. ix; Beveridge, The 
Russian Advance, chs. vi-vii. — (11) Causes of the Russo-Japanese 
War. Hazen, 699-700; Douglas, 409-424; Asakawa, Russo-Japanese 
Conflict, 1-64; Robinson and Beard, Readings, II, 444-445. — (12) The 
Siege of Port Arthur. Encyclopedia Britannica, XXVI, 926-928; 
Villiers, Port Arthur: Three Months- with the Besiegers. — (13) Battle of 
THE Sea of Japan. Encyclopedia Britannica, XXVI, 930; Robinson and 
Beard, Readings, II, 445-446. — ■ (14) The Mukden Campaign. Encyclo- 
pedia Britannica, XXVI, 929-930; McCormick, The Tragedy of Russia, I, 
chs. xxxiv, II, xxxix. — (15) The Treaty of Portsmouth. Hershey, 
International Law and Diplomacy of the Russo-Japanese War, ch. xiii; 
Encyclopedia Britannica, XV, 250-251. 

General Reading. — Douglas, Europe and the Far East, is the best single 
book to the opening of the Russo-Japanese War. The article in the En- 
cyclopedia Britannica on the Russo-Japanese War is a good brief account 
of that struggle. Good books on China are A. H. Smith, Chinese Char- 
acteristics, and Ross, The Changing Chinese. On Japan see Griffis, The 
Japanese Nation in Evolution. 



CHAPTER XXXVI 
A WORLD IN REVOLUTION 

A. The Overthrow of Absolute Governments 

Since the opening of the twentieth century the world has 

progressed at a rate hitherto unexampled in history. Change 

has crowded fast upon change, and the innovations have 856. Rapid 

been fundamental and far-reaching in their effects. The ^ ^ff^ 

° in many 

movement exhibits itself alike in the fields of pure and fields 
applied science, of economic and social relations, and in the 
organization and working of governments. To sketch some 
of these recent developments, and to show their significance, 
is the purpose of this and the following chapter. 

The disappearance of absolute rule from the world is one of 
the most evident changes of the new era. In Russia, Turkey, 
Persia, and China, revolutions have broken out which 857. Fall of 
have swept away, or are in process of sweeping away, ^0^°^^.^ 
their former absolute governments. The movement ments 
started in Russia, where it may be considered a result of the 
Russo-Japanese War. 

The war with Japan had glaringly revealed the corruption 
and incompetence of the absolute rule in Russia.^ This revela- 
tion naturally led to a revival of attempts at revolution. 858. 

In the early months of ioo<, widespread industrial and RUSSIA: 
'..,,., 1 -, . 1 • 1 , T., Attempted 

ponticai disturbances broke out, m which even the stolid revolution 
peasants took part. On the one side were political assas- (1905) 
sinations, and on the other bloody repression by Cossack sol- 

1 It was found, for example, that grand dukes and other high dignitaries had 
shamelessly stolen the funds of the International Red Cross Society, which had 
been sent to Russia for the relief of the wounded. 

707 



7o8 



A WORLD IN REVOLUTION 



diers.^ The troubles occurred especially at St. Petersburg, 
Odessa, and in the towns of Poland. The mobilization of new 
troops for the war led to frequent outbreaks, and the army in 




Revolutionary Demonstration in St. Petersburg 

the Far East was reported to be full of disaffection. A serious 
blow came when the crew of the most powerful warship of the 

1 On Sunday, January 22, 1905, a disturbance occurred at St. Petersburg which 
gave the name "Red Sunday" to that day. The people had no faith in the Tsar's 
ministers and officers, and sought humbly to lay their case before him direct. Ac- 
cordingly a Russian priest named Father Gapon tried on January 22 to lead a vast 
body of unarmed men, women, and children to the Tsar's Winter Palace to petition 
him for a redress of their grievances. The Cossacks rode among them and tried to 
disperse them with their whips, and when this failed the palace guards shot and 
cut them down. All day long the brutal pursuit continued. Hundreds of the 
unresisting people were killed, and thousands wounded. This is merely a sample 
of what went on in many places at many different times. 



RUSSIA 709 

Black Sea fleet mutinied, slew their officers, and for twelve days 
terrorized Odessa and other ports, while the crews of the other 
vessels refused to fire upon their comrades. In view of this 
widespread disaffection the government was forced to make 
some concessions. The separate constitution of the grand duchy 
of Finland, which had been practically annulled since 1899, was 
restored; and the long attempt (since 1863) to force Russian 
speech upon the Poles was given up. 

The Tsar, Nicholas II (1894- ), even promised to call to- 
gether an elective assembly, or Duma (doo'ma). Liberals were 
bitterly disappointed, however, at the ways in which rep- 839- A gen- 
resentation in this body was hedged about, at the lack forces con- 
of independent powers given, and at the refusal of the cessions 
Tsar to grant their demand for a written constitution. But 
successful revolt by force of arms nowadays is almost impos- 
sible, owing to the large armies at the command of govern- 
ments, and to the enormous superiority of government troops, 
due to their discipline and the possession of long-range maga- 
zine rifles and machine guns. To gain their point, therefore, 
the Russian revolutionists resorted to a new weapon, designed 
to fit the new conditions. This was a "general strike," — that 
is, an almost total cessation of all the ordinary and necessary 
employments of life. Railways were tied up, factories closed, 
gas and electric light shut off, and all shops closed except pro- 
vision stores. The success of such a movement depends on 
its universality, and the ability of the strikers to hold out for 
a considerable time. The Russian strike of 1905 attained 
some success. The Tsar's police could brutally butcher his 
subjects when they met together to demand liberty, but they 
could not set going the halted machinery of industry and com- 
merce. The Tsar, therefore, was forced to issue new decrees, 
which granted freedom of speech and of religious worship. He 
also declared that thenceforth no measure should become law 
which did not have the consent of the elective assembly. But 
at the same time he limited the powers of the Duma by 
transforming an existing body called the Council of the Empire, 



7 10 A WORLD IN REVOLUTION 

composed of persons appointed by the crown, into an upper 
house, without whose consent no measure passed by the Duma 
could take effect. 

The Duma met for the first time in 1906. It demanded 
(i) a general pardon for political offenses, (2) universal suffrage, 
860. Four (3) a responsible ministry, and (4) the compulsory sale 
Dumas ^^^ of lands to the peasants. On account of the radical 
(1906-1912) character of its members and of their demands, it was soon 
dissolved. A second Duma was called together early in 1907. 
This also proved too radical for the Tsar's government, and it 
was dissolved after sitting three months. Warfare then fol- 
lowed between the terrorists on the one hand, and the reaction- 
aries on the other. The advantage rested with the latter. By 
arbitrarily changing the election law and excluding the radical 
leaders of the earlier bodies, the Tsar in November, 1907, got 
together a third Duma of much more moderate type. It was 
called the "Landlords' Duma," because it was almost exclu- 
sively under the influence of this class. Even this body voted 
to reject the title "autocrat" as applied to the Tsar, and at 
times displayed in other ways an independent spirit. In Sep- 
tember, 191 2, the term of the third Duma expired, and new 
elections were held. As a result of the interference of the gov- 
ernment in the elections, the fourth Duma was even more con- 
servative than its predecessor. 

In 191 1 the chief minister of the government was assassinated, 

after having published (by the mere authority of the Tsar) a 

861 Slight ^^^ which had not been passed by the two chambers of 

results of the assembly. Doubtless such lurking dangers as this 

revou on constitute one reason for not discontinuing the Dumas 

entirely, and relapsing into the complete absolutism of former 

days. Liberals are grievously disappointed at the slow progress 

which the movement for constitutional government is making. 

But, as one of the Tsar's ministers remarked, "To jump from 

the sixteenth century to the twentieth is not easy, especially 

with twenty-eight unassimilated and illiterate nationalities 

within the empire." It is evident that the absolutism of the 



TURKEY 



711 



Tsars is at an end, but the exact nature of the government which 
will take its place remains undetermined. 

The second country to feel the wave of revolt against abso- 
lute government was Turkey. As in Russia, the Liberal move- 
ment in Turkey was of long standing. The Sultan 862. 
Abdul-Hamid II had granted a constitution at the begin- Rgyoiution 
ning of his reign, in 1876 ; but after two sessions of the prepared 
Turkish Parliament, that body was dismissed and the constitu- 
tion suspended. The Turkish government remained a despot- 
ism of the worst sort. Modern improvements, such as the 
telephone, were forbidden on the ground that they might be 
used to aid conspiracies. A strict censorship was maintained 
over all printed matter, whether issued in or imported into the 
country. Government spies were ever3nvhere. In the latter 
part of his reign the Sultan retired more and more behind the 
triple wall of his palace, and left the government to swarms of 
greedy and self-seeking ministers. The more Liberal elements 
among the European Turks, who are largely of Slavic blood, 
thereupon organized a vast secret society, with headquarters at 
Paris. They styled themselves the Young Turks, took for their 
password "Freedom," and aimed at modernizing and liberaliz- 
ing Turkey. They had their agents among civilians, in the 
customhouses, and among the police. The Armenians, Greeks, 
and other subject Christians threw in their lot with the Young 
Turks. The leaders of the revolution realized the hopelessness 
of uprisings of the people against governments supported by 
modem armies, and refrained from armed insurrection. Finally 
the army itself, because of misgovernment and arrears in its 
pay, was won over to the cause. The movement thus became 
a national one, with one of its objects expressed in the phrase 
"Turkey for the Turks." 

When all was ready the word to revolt was given, in July, 
1908. From Albania to Bagdad, from Adrianople to 863. The 
Yemen, there was a united response. The Sultan was ^^g^ ^^^ 
obliged to restore the constitution of 1876, which provided (1908-1909) 
for (i) security of personal liberty and property, (2) freedom 



712 



A WORLD IN REVOLUTION 



of the press, (3) the abolition of torture, (4) equality of Moham- 
medan and Christian subjects, (5) a Parliament of two houses, 
and (6) the responsibility of ministers to Parliament. In April, 
1909, the Sultan made a last desperate effort- to regain power 
by stirring up a counter revolution. This was carried on by 
his palace guards and a few loyal regiments at the capital. It 
was aided by a carefully fanned hatred of old-fashioned Turks 
for the new equality of Christians. For a time the attempt was 




Young Turks marching on Constantinople 

successful. But within a few days the well-disciplined troops 
controlled by the Young Turk party fought their way into 
Constantinople, and bombarded the palace into surrender. On 
April 27, 1909, Abdul-Hamid II was deposed, and was succeeded 
by his younger brother (Mohammed V), who by Mohammedan 
law was heir apparent in preference to the Sultan's own children. 
The task of the Young Turks was made more difficult by 
the facts that Bulgaria seized this occasion to throw off its 
vassalage to Turkey, and that Austria now definitely incor- 
porated Bosnia and Herzegovina, which had been hers to ad- 
minister since 1878 (§ 825). The efforts of the other Powers, 



TURKEY 



713 



however, prevented war over these questions, and Turkey was 
prevailed upon to accept money compensation. 

The work of reconstructing Turkey by assimilating the dif- 
ferent racial and religious elements, and establishing constitu- 
tional government, is exceedingly difficult. It was ham- g^ jj.g_ 
pered by dissensions among the Young Turks themselves, culty of re- 
who are divided into a radical party which opposes graft ^^o^^truction 
and corruption and favors the subject races, and a conserva- 




MOHAMMED V RETURNING FROM TAKING THE OaTH OF OFFICE 



live party which holds more selfish and less enlightened views. 
Several high Turkish ofl&cials have been assassinated as a re- 
sult of party quarrels. Moreover, foreign warfare, which was 
averted in 1909, came two years later ; and crushing blows were 
dealt to Turkish pride and prestige by the loss of Tripoli to Italy 
in 1912, and by the disastrous Balkan War of 1912-1913, which 
cost her almost the whole of her remaining European possessions 
(§§ 830-83 2) . It is possible that th,e loss of the distant province of 



714 A WORLD IN REVOLUTION 

Tripoli, and of the uneasy Balkan districts, may prove in the end 
an advantage to Turkey. More and niore the government will 
be forced to rely on its Asiatic provinces. Although Mohamme- 
danism is the state religion, and the Sultan is the head (caliph) 
of that faith, only about one third of the inhabitants of the lost 
European provinces are Mohammedans. In Asiatic Turkey, 
on the other hand, the Mohammedans outnumber all other 
sects taken together. The Turks there are a vigorous and 
robust race, and form a compact mass of many million in- 
habitants. Asia Minor contains great mineral wealth, and 
other as yet undeveloped resources. If the tasks of political 
reconstruction, of industrial development, and of education are 
seriously undertaken, a revived Turkey may arise which will 
be all the stronger for being freed from religious conflicts with 
its subjects, and from the resulting political control by the 
European Powers. At all events it looks as if the revolution 
of 1908-1909 has produced a permanent overthrow of the ab- 
solute monarchy. We are perhaps justified in looking forward 
to the slow strengthening of Turkish constitutional government, 
becoming more Liberal and enlightened with the lapse of time. 
In Persia also the opening years of the century saw a revolu- 
tion which overthrew the old absolutism. In part this was 
865. due to discontent with the extravagance and misgovern- 

PERSIA: ment of the Shah (as the king was called), and in part it 
Revolution , , , . ■ r^^ 1 

effected was due to the example of Russia. The movement took 

(1906-1909) shape in 1905, when a demand was made for representa- 
tive government. In 1906 a constitution was granted, with a 
Parliament composed of representatives of the various classes. 

In January, 1907, the old Shah died, and was succeeded by 
his son, who adopted a reactionary policy. Organizing a body 
of troops under Russian officers, he sought to arrest the leaders 
of Parliament; and when this attempt was resisted, he bom- 
barded the Parliament house. A revolt followed in a number 
of the provinces. The success which this movement had, 
together with pressure from Great Britain and Russia, finally 
forced the Shah, in May, 1909^ to restore the constitution. 



PERSIA, CHINA 715 

The revolt still continued, and in July the revolutionists suc- 
ceeded in entering the Persian capital, Teheran (te-h'ranO- 
The Shah took refuge in the Russian legation. The revolution- 
ists thereupon declared him deposed, and seated upon the 
throne his thirteen-year-old son. 

Russia and England had long possessed rival commercial 
and financial interests in Persia. They took advantage of the 
weakness of the country to come to an agreement (in 866. Rus- 
1907), by which Russia was to have the chief influence .sianand 
in northern Persia, and Great Britain was to hold a simi- designs on 
lar position in the south (§ 848). Russia evidently wishes, Persia 
by prolonging disorder in Persia, to pave the way for the an- 
nexation of the northern part. Great Britain, by her acquies- 
cence, gains Russia's consent to her declared policy of shutting 
out any other European country from securing a footing on the 
Persian Gulf, and so threatening the British possession of India. 
The outcome of this situation may be the ultimate partition of 
Persia, as Poland was partitioned more than a century ago. 

The last and most amazing instance of revolution against 
absolute government was one which broke out in China in 191 1. 
It was directed against the Manchu dynasty, which so 867. 
long had misruled that country. The looting of Peking progj-ess of 
by Europeans during the suppression of the Boxer rising awakening 
(§ 845), and the humiliating neglect of Chinese wishes and in- 
terests in the great war between Russia and Japan (§§ 850-854), 
had taught their lesson. Powerful and enlightened princes, 
filled with enthusiasm for Western institutions, came into power 
and put in execution far-reaching reforms. The army was re-' 
modeled on Western lines. Energetic steps were taken to put 
down the manufacture, importation, and use of opium. The 
centuries-old system of examinations for office, based on the 
works of Confucius and other ancient Chinese writers, was 
abolished. A modern educational system, patterned after that 
of Japan, was introduced. Finally, a commission was ap- 
pointed to visit Europe and America, and to report what 
changes should be made in the Chinese government. 



7i6 



A WORLD IN REVOLUTION 



As a result of the work of this commission, an edict appeared 
in 1906 which promised a parHamentary constitution for China, 
868. Prepa- to be estabhshed by gradual steps within nine years. 
rations for 'pj^g movement for change was doubtless helped by the 
tion (1906- death (in November, 1908) of both the fierce old empress 
1910) dowager (§ 845), and the puppet emperor whom she had 

practically dethroned. A boy of less than three years was placed 

on the throne, and the gov- 
ernment given over to a 
regent. Nine years, how- 
ever, proved too long for 
the Chinese to wait. From 
many sides came a demand 
for the establishing of a 
Parliament with full powers, 
at an earlier date than was 
promised. The educated 
and well-to-do classes took 
the lead in the movement, 
and enthusiastic meetings 
were held in which men cut 
off their fingers to show 
their earnestness. The gov- 
ernment at last promised 
that the Parliament should 
meet in 1913. 
Even this was not enough. In September, 191 1, armed 
rebellion broke out in central China. The objects of the move- 
Man- ment were declared to be : (i) to overthrow the Manchus, 
(2) to make China a federal republic, and (3) to secure 
honest government. To guard against interference by 




Dr. Sun Yat Sen 



869 
chus de 
throned 



(1911-1912) 

other countries, injury to foreigners was made punishable with 
death. The movement spread from city to city, from province 
to province. Within a few weeks the whole of South China 
was in the hands of the revolutionists. A provisional gov- 
ernment was set up at Nanking', under Dr. Sun Yat Sen, 



CHINA 



717 



the enlightened leader of the revolt. In panic the regent 
then put at the head of affairs a moderately Liberal statesman, 
Yuan Shih Kai (yoo-an'she'ki'), whom he had recently dis- 
missed from oflSce. A pathetic apology for the misgovernment 
of the regency was issued in 
the name of the boy em- 
peror.^ At the same time 
the draft of a constitution 
was accepted which would 
have made China a constitu- 
tional monarchy, under a 
parliamentary government. 

The Manchus, however, 
were bitterly hated, and it 
was too late to save their 
monarchy. The generals of 
the imperial army themselves 
joined in a memorial advis- 
ing against the attempt to 
retain power by the use of 
force. It was also found 
impossible to borrow the 
money necessary for resist- 
ance. The Manchu imperial 

house therefore determined to resign the throne. On February 
12, 191 2, Yuan Shih Kai was given authority to establish a 

1 The apology reads (in part) as follows: "I have reigned for three years and 
have always acted conscientiously in the interests of the people; but I have not 
employed men properly, not having political skill. On railway matters some one 
whom I trusted fooled me, and thus public opinion was opposed. When I urge 
refo^-m the officials and gentry seize the opportunity to embezzle. When old laws 
are aboUshed high officials serve their own ends. Much of the people's money has 
been taken, but nothing to benefit the people has been achieved. People are grum- 
bling, yet I do not know ; disasters loom ahead, but I do not see. All these things 
are my own fault, and hereby I announce to the world that I swear to reform, and, 
with our soldiers and people, to carry out the constitution faithfully, modifying 
legislation, developing the interests of the people, and abolishing their hardships — 
all in accordance with the wishes and interests of the people. Old laws that are un- 
suitable will be aboUshed. The union of Manchus and Chinese, mentioned by the 




Yuan Shih Kai 



7i8 A WORLD IN REVOLUTION 

provisional republican government, and to confer with the 
revolutionary government at Nanking. The result of the 
conference was that Sun Yat Sen patriotically resigned his 
office, and Yuan Shih Kai was unanimously elected President 
of the "Great Republic of China." The governments of Nan- 
king and Peking were united. The little emperor and the 
Manchu princes were pensioned off, and the republic was left 
free to establish itself as best it might. 

In April, 19 13, the Chinese National Assembly, composed of 
a Senate and a House of Representatives, met for the first time. 
870. Meet- Its first act was to publish the following enlightened dec- 
ingof the laration (condensed) : "The will of Heaven is manifested 
Assembly through the will of the people. That the hundreds of 
(1913) millions of the Chinese people possess the authority of 

the state is not proclaimed now for the first time. The repre- 
sentatives of the people must share the likes and dislikes of the 
people. They are to give expression to the desires and voice the 
will of the people. They hold the reins in behalf of the nation, 
to govern with severity or leniency, with parsimony or extrav- 
agance ; they become the pivot upon which the prosperity of 
the state is made to turn. For the success or failure, safety or 
danger, adversity or good fortune, theirs is the merit or the 
blame. Can we be otherwise than anxious ? May ours be a 
just government. May our five races lay aside their prejudices. 
May rain and sunshine bring bounteous harvest and cause the 
husbandman to rejoice. May the scholar be happy in his home 
and the merchant conduct his trade in peace. May no duty 
of government be unfulfilled and no hidden wound go un- 
redressed. Thus may the glory be spread abroad, and these 
our words be echoed far and wide, that those in distant 
lands who hear may rejoice, our neighbors on every side 
give us praise, and may the new life of the old nation be 

late emperor, I will carry out. Even if all unite, I still fear falling ; but if the em- 
pire's subjects do not regard and do not honor fate, and are easily misled by out- 
laws, then the future of China is unthinkable. I am most anxious day and night. 
My only hope is that my subjects will thoroughly understand." 



CHANGES IN CONTINENTAL EUROPE 719 

lasting and unending. Who of us can dare to be neglectful 
of his duties !" 

Many details remain to be settled before China can settle 
down to orderly life under the new regime. An ominous note 
was struck when two of the republican generals were g^^ tptos- 
murdered, apparently by the orders of Yuan Shih Kai. pects of the 
Yuan also concluded important loan contracts with the ^^" 
European Powers without consulting the Assembly. He was 
accused of wishing to make himself dictator, and by bribery 
and intimidation he has hampered the national representatives. 
Nevertheless, if Japan and the European Powers keep their 
hands off, there is a fair chance of the republic maintaining 
itself. If this is the outcome, it will be one of the most stu- 
pendous changes in the history of the human race. Almost at 
a bound 400,000,000 people will have passed from an absolute 
to a republican form of government, with only a slight effusion 
of blood. Here, as in the case of Turkey, the external diffi- 
culties are very great. Russia has encouraged Chinese Mon- 
golia — whose area is half as great as that of the whole of China 
proper — to declare its independence, and is putting every ob- 
stacle in the way of a reestablishment of Chinese suzerainty. 
Great Britain seems to be doing the same in Tibet. The iilti- 
mate outcome for China is therefore uncertain. 

B. Changes in the States of Continental Europe 

While other nations of western Europe strengthened them- 
selves in the last quarter of the nineteenth century, through 
alliances and the acquisition of territory abroad, Spain 872. Spain 
continued to decline. One reason for this was the fact ^^*®^ ^^^o 
that she was long weakened by party struggles. After the with- 
drawal of the Hohenzollern candidate for the Spanish throne 
(§ 770), a younger son of the king of Italy accepted the crown 
(January, 1871). But at the end of two years he resigned the 
throne in disgust, and a republic was proclaimed. Wars with 
royalists of rival houses, and with those who wished a federative 



720 A WORLD IN REVOLUTION 

instead of a consolidated republic, distracted and weakened the 
country, and in 1875 the monarchy was restored. A constitution 
with representative government and a legislature of two houses 
was adopted in 1876, and in 1890 manhood suffrage was added. 
The power of the monarchy rested mainly on the army, which 
was over-officered, inefficient, and a great drain on Spanish 
' finances. Railways and industry made rapid strides, but mainly 
through foreign enterprise. The mass of the population, though 
sound and honest, remained ignorant, idle, and religiously 
intolerant. In 1889, 68 per cent could neither read nor write, 
and 53 per cent were without occupation. 

The remnants of Spain's once mighty colonial empire were a 
source of weakness to her rather than of strength. The cruelty 
873. Spanish ^^^^ which an insurrection was being put down in Cuba, 
American led in 1 898 to war with the United States. Admiral 
^ ^^ ^ ^ Dewey at Manila, and Admirals Sampson and Schley at 
Santiago, crushed the Spanish fleets; and Spain was forced to 
sue for peace. The terms agreed upon included the giving up of 
Cuba (which shortly became an independent republic), and the 
cession 01 Porto Rico and the Philippines to the United States. 
The acquisition of the Philippines brought the United States 
more directly into Far Eastern questions, and increased her im- 
portance in "world politics" — an importance based also on 
the "American invasion" of many European fields of industry. 
For Spain the Spanish American War marked the practical 
disappearance of the vast colonial empire which she had pos- 
sessed at the opening of the nineteenth century. If the oppor- 
tunity afforded by its loss is used to carry through the much 
needed Liberal reforms at home, and to align Spain with the 
progressive countries of western Europe, this war will prove for 
her a blessing in disguise. Her present king (Alfonso XIII) 
is an enlightened and progressive monarch, but it is difficult to 
wipe out the results of ages of misgovernment. Spain continues 
to be an intolerant, illiterate, and backward country. Agricul- 
ture there is less productive now than under the Roman Empire, 
in some districts the plows being mere pointed sticks shod 



CHANGES IN CONTINENTAL EUROPE 7 21 

with iron. Aside from industrial improvement, the problem 
which seems to be of most immediate concern is that of separat- 
ing church and state, and removing the influence of the Roman 
Catholic clergy from politics. 

In the recent history of France, the most important event 
was the ending of the religious Concor(iat (§631) and the sepa- 
ration of church and state. Ever since the establishing 874. Oppo- 
of the Third RepubHc, its relations with the Cathohc sitionto 
Church had been strained. By 1900 the number of nuns church in 
in France had increased from 14,000 to 75,000 ; the monks France 
numbered about 190,000; and the property of the religious, 
orders had grown to twentyfold what it was in 1850. Most 
of the religious orders were engaged in teaching and preaching, 
and it was charged that their influence was exerted against 
the Republic. One French statesman went so far as to say: 
" Clericalism is, in fact, to be found at the bottom of every agita- 
tion and every intrigue from which Republican France has 
suffered during the last thirty-five years." On the other hand, 
it should be noted that many of those who attacked the church 
were hostile to the whole Christian religion, regarding it as an 
obstacle in the way of progress and of civilization. 

The Dreyfus affair (§ 735) brought to a head the opposition 
to the political activity of Catholic churchmen. In 1901-1904 
"Association laws" were passed which closed the greater 875. Reli- 
number of the religious (Catholic) establishments, and ^|°^^ *^^°" 
caused the expulsion of the teaching and preaching orders dissolved 
of clergy. This policy was vehemently denounced by Catholics 
as persecution, and as an infringement of the liberty of Catholic 
parents to have their children educated in Catholic schools. 

As it proved, this step was only the prelude to a greater 
revolution, — • the complete separation of church and state. In 
1905, France passed a law which put an end to the Con- 876. Sepa- 
cordat, dating from the days of Napoleon I (§ 631), under church°and 
which bishops and parish priests were named and paid by state 
the state. The state salaries to Catholic clergy, Protestant min- 
isters, and Jewish rabbis are all to cease after the death of those 



722 



A WORLD IN REVOLUTION 



who are now receiving such pay. The cathedrals, churches, etc., 
continue to be the property of the state (as they have been since 
1789), but arrangements are made by which the CathoHc Church 
may use them. The Pope declared himself unalterably opposed 
to these laws, and much difficulty and some rioting were en- 
countered in putting them into execution. But the measures 
apparently have behind them a permanent majority of the 
French people ; and the separation of church and state, together 




Demonstration by Catholics in Paris 



with the removal of all religious influence from education, may 
be taken as an accomplished fact in French history. 

Another recent change of some importance was the separation 
of Norway from Sweden. In 181 5 the two countries had been 

877. Sepa- united as separate countries under the same king (§ 659). 

ration of Their peoples, however, are dissimilar in many ways. 

and Sweden Despite the king's veto (which was merely a suspensive 

(1905) one) Norway abolished the Norwegian nobility. Dissen- 

sions followed over Norwegian demands for a place of equal 
importance with Sweden on the seal of state, for a separate 



CHANGES IN CONTINENTAL EUROPE 723 

flag, and for a Norwegian governor over Norway. These de- 
mands, after long resistance, were granted. Then came a 
demand that the Norwegians be allowed to have consuls of 
their own to care for Norway's commercial interests, which are 
much more important than those of Sweden. This conflict 
dragged on for years. Finally, in 1905, the Norwegian Storthing 
(stor'ting; parliament) declared the union between the two 
countries dissolved — a step ratified by 368,200 votes against 
184, in a plebiscite taken in August, 1905. King Oscar of 
Sweden was deeply hurt by this action of his Norwegian sub- 
jects. He decided to let them go in peace, however, and a 
treaty of separation was soon ratified. The Norwegian Stor- 
thing then chose as king Prince Charles of Denmark, who was 
crowned in June, 1906, as King Haakon VH. 

Portugal is the only state in western Europe, since the open- 
ing of the twentieth century, in which a revolution has been 
effected by armed force. Almost a century earlier, upon 878. Portu- 
the downfall of Napoleon, it had been restored to the rule public ^^" 
of its former sovereign ; but for some years he continued (1910) 
to reside in the Portuguese colony of Brazil, to which he had fled 
in 1807 (§ 644). When he was forced to return by threatened 
revolution at home, Brazil declared itself an independent 
empire under the rule of his son (1822).^ By the grant of a 
"constitutional charter" in 1826, Portugal became nominally a 
constitutional monarchy. But throughout the nineteenth cen- 
tury it was subject to civil wars and violent political struggles, 
in which questions of absolutism and liberalism were mere 
cloaks for the selfish designs of corrupt politicians. The climax 
to these struggles came in 1908, when the king and crown prince 
were assassinated in the streets of Lisbon. 

Under Manuel II, the second son of the deceased king, the 
government was no better. In i9iothe long-delayed revolution 
came. In recent elections the republicans had doubled the 
number of their representatives in the Parliament. Having 

1 In 1893 the Empire of Brazil, which was the only independent monarchy ever 
really established in the New World, became by revolution the Republic of Brazil, 



724 



A WORLD IN REVOLUTION 



won over to their cause certain regiments of soldiers in Lisbon, 
they began a revolt (October, 1910). Bands of citizens and 
sailors joined them. In the midst of the fighting two battle- 
ships in Lisbon harbor opened fire on the royalists, and enabled 
the republicans to triumph. The king fled in his motor car, and 
ultimately found refuge in England. A republic was established, 
with a president at its head . but royalist attempts at a restora- 
tion are frequent. As a first installment of Liberal reform, the 





1 


itt.^ 






^^^^^P^^^^^„ - - ;-81 ' ' 


A 


lA 














^ ' ■ uri ii*. 



Part of the Revolutionary Forces in Lisbon 
The wall shows marks of cannonading. 



new republic confiscated the property of the Catholic Church, 
and enacted that there shall be religious freedom, with separa- 
tion of church and state as in France. This has naturally 
made the CathoHc clergy bitterly hostile to the republic. The 
wealthier classes went into exile, voluntary or enforced. There 
was much industrial- distress, and strikes have been frequent. 
The greatest obstacle to the success of the new government, 
perhaps, is to be found in the fact that probably 80 per cent 
of the Portuguese cannot read and write. Serious dangers still 
confront the new government, and it cannot yet be said to have 
solidly established itself. 



RECENT CHANGES IN GREAT BRITAIN 725 

C. Recent Changes in Great Britain 

In no country of Europe have more rapid and important 
changes taken place in recent years than in Great Britain. 
Like the changes of the nineteenth century, these have 879. Rapid 
been effected by peaceful methods and not by armed ^^^^so^iai 
revolt. In their nature also they are largely a continua- changes 
tion of the work of the earlier period. 

The reign of Edward VII (§ 804) lasted until 19 10, when 
he died and was succeeded by his son, George V. After the 
retirement of Lord Salisbury (in 1903), the Conservative 880. Liber- 
party continued in office, under Mr. Bal'four as prime ^ ^ o^^er'^^ 
minister, until the close of 1905. The Liberals were then (1905) 
restored to power for the first time in ten years. A general 
election in 1906 gave the Liberals the largest majority in the 
House of Commons possessed by any party since 1832. They 
proceeded — first under Mr. Campbell-Bannerman, and then 
under Mr. Asquith, as prime minister — to pass in quick succes- 
sion a series of social and political reforms. 

Among their social reforms two stand out as especially im- 
portant. The first of these was the Old Age Pensions Act, 
passed in 1908. Its object was to lessen the suffering of 881. Pen- 

the aged poor by granting a pension of five shillings ?^°" ^^^ 
, Insurance 

($1.25) a week to all persons over seventy years of age acts (1908, 

whose income did not exceed $157 a year. The second ^9") 
was the National Insurance Act, passed in 1911. This provided 
(i) for compulsory insurance against sickness for the entire 
working population whose incomes were below $130 a year, 
and for voluntary insurance for those whose incomes were 
between S130 and $800 ; and (2) for insurance against unemploy- 
ment in certain specified trades. About half of the cost is 
borne by the workmen themselves ; the remainder is divided 
between the government and the employers. Both of these 
acts may be said to be patterned after Bismarck's legislation 
for the working classes in Germany (§ 779) ; and both were 
bitterly opposed by the Conservatives on the ground that 



726 A WORLD IN REVOLUTION 

they were socialistic and tended to pauperize the working 
classes. 

In a parliamentary system of government there is an accurate 
balancing of expenditures and income through the preparation 
882. The each year of what is called the "budget." The estimated 
te ^^1 f expenditures for the year are carefully calculated, and 
1909 taxes are proposed sufhcient to meet these. Because of 

the Old Age Pensions Act it was necessary for the Liberal 
government to provide a considerably increased revenue in the 
budget for 1909. Mr. Lloyd George, the Cabinet minister 
who had charge of the treasury department, proposed to get 
this increased revenue by a series of taxes which were very 
distasteful to the Conservatives. The general plan of his 
budget was to take the burdens of taxation from the shoulders 
of the poor, and put them on those of the rich. In addition, 
the price of liquor licenses was increased with a view to pro- 
moting temperance; and provision was made for taxing what 
is called the "unearned increment" in land values. "If land 
goes up in the future by hundreds and thousands an acre, 
through the efforts of the community," said Lloyd George, "the 
community will get 20 per cent of that increment." ^ 

1 In England the greater part of the land is owned by a few great landlords, in 
whose families it is transmitted from generation to generation. The owners often 
refuse to sell land, and merely lease it to those who wish to use it for agricultural 
purposes or to build on it in cities. This whole land system is now attracting the 
attention of reformers. In one of his speeches Lloyd George said : "Who ordained 
that the few should have the land of Britain as a perquisite? Who made ten 
thousand people the owners of the soil, and the rest of us trespassers in the land of 
our birth? Who is responsible for the scheme of things whereby a man is engaged 
through life in grinding labor to win a bare and precarious subsistence for himself, 
and, at the end of his days, when claiming at the hands of the community he served 
a poor pension of eight pence a day, can only get it through a revolution, while 
another man who does not toil receives every hour of the day, every hour of the 
night, more than his poor neighbor receives in a whole year of toil? Where did 
the table of that law come from ? Whose finger inscribed it ? These are the ques- 
tions that will be asked. The answers are charged with peril for the order of things 
the peers represent; but they are fraught with rare and refreshing fruit for the 
parched lips of the multitude who have been treading the dusty road along which 
the people have marched through the dark ages which are now merging into the 
light." 



RECENT CHANGES IN GREAT BRITAIN 727 

This budget precipitated the greatest political struggle in 
England since the Reform agitation in 1832, The powers of 
the House of Lords over financial legislation had steadily 883. The 
decreased; it was admitted that they could no longer p^gg^d 
amend "money bills," and for many years there had been (1910) 
no instance of their rejecting a budget. Nevertheless the House 
of Lords in 1909 refused to pass the Lloyd George budget. The 
government, which had an undiminished majority in the Com- 
mons, was thus forced to dissolve Parliament and appeal to 
the people. In the elections (held in January, 1910) the Liberal 
majority was considerably reduced, but their alliance with the 
Irish and Labor parties still left them in undisputed control of 
the Commons. The "revolutionary budget" was then passed 
by the Lords, and Lloyd George's proposals became law. 

Even before the budget struggle, the Liberals had become 
convinced that it was necessary to "mend or end" the House 
of Lords (§ 802). That House since the reign of George gg^ ^j^^ 
III was overwhelmingly Conservative. When the Con- Lords' veto 
servative party was in power the Lords never failed to 
pass the government's bills, even when as distasteful to them as 
was the Reform Act of 1867. But when Liberals were in power 
the Lords often mangled or threw out the most important 
measures.^ This course led the House of Commons, in 1907, 
to pass a resolution that "it is necessary that the power of the 
House of Lords to alter or reject bills passed by the House of 
Commons should be so restricted by law as to secure that, 
within the limits of a single Parliament, the final decision of 
the Commons shall prevail." The question was whether the 
House elected by the people, or the non-elected hereditary 
House, should prevail in the government. The rejection of the 

1 Since igo6 the Lords had rejected an Education bill, intended to repeal a recent 
Conservative law by which Church of England schools were supported by the 
state but controlled by the church ; a Plural Voting bill, whose object was to Umit 
each man to one vote, no matter in how many constituencies he possessed the 
qualification ; and a Licensing bill, designed in part to promote temperance. Many 
wealthy brewers and distillers have been made peers, and "the Beerage and the 
Peerage" (as the Liberals phrase it) usually act together, 



728 A WORLD IN REVOLUTION 

budget by the Lords now determined the Liberals to use all their 
resources to enact the above resolution into law. 

For a time the death (in May, 1910) of King Edward VII 
delayed the struggle. An attempt to find a solution by a con- 
gg ^j^g ference between leading Liberals and Conservatives failed. 
Parliament In a new election, held in December, 19 10, the Lords put 
Act of 1911 foj.^aj-(j a counter proposal to reform their House so as 
to make it mainly an elective and ex-officio body, instead of 
an hereditary one. The people, however, declared in favor 
of the Liberal-Labor-Irish alliance by almost the same majority 
as in January. After protracted and violent debates, the Parlia- 
ment Bill, as it was called, then passed the Commons and went 
to the Lords. The king had already promised his ministers 
to create enough peers, if necessary, to carry their measure 
through the upper house (§ 789). The announcement that, 
if the Lords continued to resist the will of the people, their body 
would be swamped by the creation of 500 new peers, broke 
down their opposition, and secured the passage of the Parliament 
Bill (August, 1 911). As in 1832, an actual creation of peers was 
Dicey Law ^°^ necessary ; the mere threat to create them was suffi- 
of the Con- dent. This crisis again proved that "the prerogatives 
sMuUon, 411 ^£ ^^ crown have become the privileges of the people," 
and must be used even against the aristocracy to enforce the 
popular will. The chief provisions of this important act were 
the following : — 

1. A money bill (such as the budget) must be passed by the Lords 

within one month after it reaches them, or it becomes a law 
without their consent. The Speaker of the House of Commons 
decides whether a bill is a money bill or not. 

2. A bill other than a money bill may become a law without their 

consent on its third rejection by the Lords — provided it has 
been passed by the Commons in three successive sessions, and 
two years have elapsed between its first introduction there and 
its passage the third time. 

3. Five years was substituted for seven years as the maximum dura- 

tion of Parliament, 



RECENT CHANGES IN GREAT BRITAIN 729 

The effect of this act is to reduce the Lords to the position 
of a distinctly subordinate House. The enemies of the measure 
said that it would establish "single-chamber government." 
What reforms, if any, will be made in the composition of the 
House of Lords now that its powers are reduced, and how govern- 
ment under the new plan will work, remain to be seen. 

By another measure, payment of members of the House of 
Commons was provided for. The Labor representatives in 
Parliament had for some time received salaries from their ggg p _ 
trade-unions, but a recent decision of the courts had denied ment of 
to the unions the right to use their funds for this purpose. ™®™**®'^ 
To overcome the difficulty caused by this decision, Mr. Asquith's 
government carried through a measure by which all members 
of the House of Commons now receive pay from the national 
treasury, at the rate of $2000 a year. Thus the British con- 
stitution is made still more democratic, by enabling poor men 
to sit in the House of Commons without outside aid. 

Since the passage of the Parliament Act of 1911, it becomes 
possible for the Liberals and their radical allies to pass many 
measures which hitherto the opposition of the Lords per- gg ^^^_ 
sistently blocked. Among the measures which they pro- ther Liberal 
pose to enact into law are the following : Home Rule for ^^^^'^'"^^ 
Ireland (§ 802) ; disestablishment of the Anglican Church in 
Wales ; a new Education Act, in which the control of the Anglican 
Church will be reduced and greater justice done to dissenters ; 
and the abolition of plural voting, — that is, of the right of a 
rich man to vote in as many places as he has the required prop- 
erty qualification. With the latter provision was planned a 
new Parliamentary Reform Act, which would not only make 
a new distribution of seats so as to make the representation 
agree more nearly with the distribution of population, but would 
also extend the suffrage to all adult males not disqualified by in- 
sanity or conviction of crime. A Home Rule bill has already 
(1913) twice been passed by the Commons and rejected by the 
Lords. Its passage for the third time (when it will become law) 
may be expected in 1914; but the Conservatives threaten to 



730 



A WORLD IN REVOLUTION 



cause revolt in Ulster (the Protestant part of Ireland) to pre- 
vent its going into effect. Some progress has also been made 
with the rest of the Liberal program. 




Lloyd George speaking on the Disestablishment oe the Church 
IN Wales 



Whether the acts passed by the Liberals will include "votes 
for women" remains to be seen.^ The general subject of the 
888. " Votes emancipation of women and the rise of a demand for 
for Women" woman suffrage will be treated in a later section (§ 902). 
Here we need only note that about 1906 the "suffragettes" 
(as they are called in England) adopted new "militant"' tactics, 
which have brought the movement into greater prominence. 
Acting on the principles of the Irish obstructionists (§ 800), 
they have interrupted public speakers, broken windows in 
government buildings, set fire to buildings, destroyed the con- 
tents of mail boxes, and otherwise sought to attract attention 
to their demands. At various times they have secured favorable 

1 Women in Great Britain already vote in all except parliamentary elections. 
The British Parliament, however, combines the powers both of our Congress and 
our State legislatures. 



RECENT CHANGES IN GREAT BRITAIN 731 

votes in the House of Commons ; but these have failed to result 
in the passage of a law. The present Liberal government is 
divided on the question. It is not at all unlikely, however, 
that within a very short time the women of Great Britain and 
Ireland will have the same voting rights as the men. 

The chief constructive policy of the Conservatives in recent 
years has been Tariff Reform. By this is meant a return to 
the policy of protective tariffs in use before 1846. British 889. Con- 
agriculture has suffered from the free importation of grain servatiyes 
from the United States, Argentina, and other lands; and "Tariff 
British manufacturers begin to feel the effects of the ^^^o'"'^ 
rapid industrial growth of Germany and the United States. 
The chief argument used by the protectionists, however, is that 
their policy will enable the mother country to bind more closely 
to herself the great self-governing colonies, by giving their 
products a tariff preference in British markets. This imperial- 
istic reason is the one which chiefly influenced the father of the 
movement, Mr. Joseph Chamberlain (Colonial Secretary from 
1895 to 1900). In the struggle over the budget in 1909 and 1910 
the Conservatives put forward their policy of Tariff Reform in 
opposition to the Liberal policies. They were not able, however, 
to convert a majority of the electors to their way of thinking. 

Another policy strongly advocated by the Conservatives, 
and more moderately by the Liberals, is that of increasing naval 
armaments. For a number of years the industrial arid g Naval 
political rivalry between Germany and Great Britain rivalry with 
has been keen ; and Germany has been accused of wishing ^rmany 
to build up her colonial empire by forcibly despoiling Great 
Britain of a portion of hers.^ Color has been given to this 

1 "It is not true," says Lavisse, "that the development of material interests 
promotes peace. Commerce as the messenger of peace is a mythological character. 
In its origin it was brigandage; in ancient, medieval, and modern times it occa- 
sioned wars. Men fought on the Baltic for herring, and on all the seas for spices. 
In our day the growth of industries creates the question of foreign markets, which 
in turn brings the interests of states into conflict. Commercial rivalry and rancor 
thus strengthen national hatred." — Lavisse, General View of the Political History 
of Europe, 163. 



73^ A WORLD IN REVOLUTION 

charge by the strenuous and persistent efforts which Germany 
is making to build up a navy rivaling that of England. All 
parties in Great Britain agree that, because of the insular 
character of their country and her wide empire, the control of 
the sea is a matter of life and death for her. Consequently, 
recent years have seen both countries straining every financial 
nerve, and heaping loan upon loan and tax upon tax, in the 
race to build larger, better, and a greater number of warships. 
Statesmen of each country protest peaceful intentions.^ It is 
difficult, however, to see any other outcome to the situation ex- 
cept war, unless the burden of preparation for war brings saner 
views and a cessation of naval rivalry. 

D. The Hague Peace Conferences and the New 
Internationalism 

Out of the widened area of European political interests, 
and the rapidly increasing burden of military and naval arma- 
891. First ments, has come a strengthening of the movement for 
ference °°" internationalism. In its present form the movement 
(1899) dates from the First Peace Conference, which assembled 

at The Hague (the Dutch capital) in 1899. It was called by 
the Tsar of Russia (i) to discuss "the terrible and increasing 
burden of European armaments," and (2) to consider the possi- 
bility of settling international disputes by arbitration instead of 
by war. Besides the delegates of the European Powers, there 
were present representatives from the United States, Mexico, 
China, Japan, Persia, and even Siam. The proposal that each 
country should agree, for a fixed period, not to increase its exist- 
ing military and naval forces was abandoned because of the 
opposition of the German military delegate. With reference 

1 For example, the German Secretary of the Admiralty declared (in February, 
1913) : "We do not intend to enter into competition with England. We have 
always insisted that we are not aiming at a navy as large as the English navy. We 
had to choose between giving by means of a suflSciently strong navy an adequate 
protection to our growing trade and to our industry, or standing always hat in hand. 
We chose the former course." 



THE HAGUE PEACE CONFERENCES 733 

to arbitration, however, the movement was more successful. 
In spite of German opposition, an international court for that 
purpose was formed, and its principles and procedure established. 
The Hague Tribunal is not a permanent court, in the sense that 
it is a court which is always in existence. It is rather a panel of 
judges, from which at any time a court can be formed for the 
trial of a case submitted to it by the countries concerned. The 
new tribunal was soon made a living reality by the submission of 
several troublesome cases, which ordinary diplomacy had failed 
to settle. Its creation stands as a marked event in recent 
history, and a pronounced step in the growth of that spirit of 
World Statehood which we call New Internationalism. 

Problems growing out of the Russo-Japanese War, and the 
enormous increase of military and naval burdens in all countries, 
led to the Second Peace Conference at The Hague, in 1907. 892. Second 
The preliminary steps to this were taken by President coffi^rence 
Roosevelt of the United States, but out of deference to (1907) 
the Tsar the latter was allowed to issue the formal call. The 
number of countries represented in the Second Conference was 
nearly double that in the first, and its work was more important. 
It adopted many new rules relating to neutrality and the con- 
duct of war, and greatly improved international law on these 
subjects. No agreement, however, could be arrived at in favor 
of compulsory arbitration between countries. With reference 
to the limitation of armaments, it merely reaffirmed the resolu- 
tion of the First Conference that it was "highly desirable to see 
the governments take up the serious study of the question." 
Great Britain took the lead in urging limitations of armaments ; 
the opposition to it was led by Russia and Japan, for reasons 
growing out of their recent war, and by Germany and Austria, 
whose reasons are not so obvious. A Third Conference was 
provided for, which is expected to meet in 191 5. It is possible 
that its sessions may be crowned with greater success in these 
respects than the two former ones. 

In spite of the somewhat disappointing outcome of the Con- 
ferences so far held, the movement is of very great interest. 



734 A WORLD IN REVOLUTION 

Friends of peace hope that these meetings will lead to measures 

which are destined to end war and to unite all mankind in in- 

893. Im- ternational brotherhood. "Each Conference," said Mr. 

portance Root, the American Secretary of State, "will inevitably 
of the Peace , , ■, , \ . , 

Confer- make further progress, and by successive steps results 

ences j^^y \)q accomplished which have formerly appeared im- 

possible. The achievements of the two Conferences justify the 
belief that the world has entered upon an orderly progress 
through which, step by step, in successive Conferences, — each 
taking the work of its predecessor as its point of departure, — 
there may be continual progress toward making the practice 
of civilized nations conform to their peaceful professions.'^ The 
ultimate result may be the establishing of those relations be- 
tween countries which were foreseen by the English poet Tenny- 
son, when he dreamed that — 

"The war-drum throbbed no longer, and the battle-flags were furled 
In the Parliament of Man, the Federation of the World." 

IMPORTANT DATES 

1899. First Hague Peace Conference. 

1905. Separation of church and state in France. 

Norway separated from Sweden. 

Beginning of a revolution in Russia. 
1907. Second Hague Peace Conference. 

1908-1909. Successful revolution in Turkey; constitutional govern- 
ment established. 

1909. Persia gains a constitutional government. 

1 910. A revolution in Portugal establishes a republic. 

191 1. Veto of the House of Lords ended in Great Britain. 
1911-1912. Revolution in China ; a republic proclaimed. 

TOPICS AND REFERENCES 

Suggestive Topics. — (i) Compare the relative importance for the world's 
history of the events of the days of Pericles, the reign of Elizabeth, and the 
present time. (2) How do you account for the wave of revolution which 
has swept over the world recently ? (3) Was the defeat of Russia by Japan 
the cause or merely the occasion for the Russian revolution ? (4) Why has 



TOPICS AND REFERENCES 735 

the cause of constitutional government made so little progress there? 

(5) In what ways was it easier to produce a successful revolution in Turkey 
than in Russia? What obstacles were there in the case of Turkey that 
were wanting in Russia ? (6) What is your opinion of the course of Russia 
and England with reference to Persia? (7) What connection is there be- 
tween the victory of Japan over Russia and the Chinese revolution ? 

(8) Why does the idea of a republic in China seem stranger than one in France ? 

(9) What is the present situation in China? (10) What motives led to the 
separation of church and state in France ? (11) Was the action of the king 
of Sweden in letting Norway secede wise or unwise? Why? (12) What 
effect will the establishing of a republic in Portugal perhaps have on Spain ? 
(13) If you were English, would you have been a Liberal or a Conservative 
in the recent struggles ? (14) Wh3,t is your opinion of the budget of 1909 ? 
(15) Which do you think better for Great Britain, the limitation of the 
power of the House of Lords, or the reform of that body as proposed by the 
Conservatives, leaving its powers as they were? (16) What arguments can 
be advanced for and against the payment of members of Parliament? 
(17) Do you think women should have the right to vote? (18) Do you 
think the methods of the "militant suffragettes" have helped or hindered 
their cause? (19) If you were English, would you be for or against "tariff 
reform"? Why? (20) Is Great Britain or Germany chiefly responsible 
for their naval rivalry? (21) Sum up in your own words what the Hague 
Conferences have done for the cause of international peace. 

Search Topics. — (i) The Russian Revolution. Hazen, Europe 
Since i8i§, ch. xxxi; Robinson and Beard, Development of Modern Europe, 
II, 283-301; Encyclopedia Britannica, XXIII, 908-911; Robinson and 
Beard, i?ea^Mjg.y, II, 371-391 ; Pares, Russia and Reform; Nevinson, The 
Dawn in Russia; Martin, The Future of Russia; Walling, Russia's Message, 
— (2) Revolution in Turkey. Hazen, 636-644 ; Robinson and Beard, 
Readings, II, 403-405; Barton, Daybreak in Turkey; Buxton, Turkey in 
Revolution; Abbott, Turkey in Transition. — (3) Persia. Encyclopedia 
Britannica, XXI, 244-245 ; Browne, The Persian Revolution of igo^-igog; 
Shuster, The Strangling of Persia. — (4) Revolution in China. A. J. 
Brown, The Chinese Revolution; Cantlie, Sun Yat Sen and the Awakening of 
China; Dingle, China's Revolution, igii—igi2. — (5) Recent History of 
Spain. Hazen, 564-575; Encyclopedia Britannica, XXV, 563-569. — 

(6) Separation of Church and State in France. Hazen, 364-371 ; Rob- 
inson and Beard, Development, 166-172; Robinson and Beard, Readings, II, 
223-232 ; Galton, Church and State in France, 201-268. — • (7) Sweden and 
Norway. Hazen, 595-600; Encyclopedia Britannica, XXVI, 213-214; 
XIX, 810-815. — (8) The Portuguese Republic. International Yearbook, 
igio, 599-600, igii, 582-584. — (9) Recent Social Reforms in Great 
Britain. Hazen, 513-517; Ogg, Social Progress in Contemporary Europe, 



736 A WORLD IN REVOLUTION 

264-279 ; Hayes, British Social Politics. — (10) Veto of- the Lords Abol- 
ished. Ogg, Governments of Europe, 106-116; Hayes, British Social Poli- 
tics. — (11) The Hague Peace Conferences. Hazen, 728-736; Robinson 
and Beard, Readings, 463-466 ; Hull, The Two Hague Conferences. 

General Reading. — See Oscar Browning, A History of the Modern World, 
2 vols. (1913), for some of the topics of this chapter. The annual surveys 
published in the Statesman's Yearbook, the International Yearbook, the 
Annual Register, and the Britannica Yearbook, are the chief sources for 
recent history. See also the indexes to periodical literature, such as Poole's 
Index, the Cumulative Index, etc. For keeping up with current history, 
such publications as The Outlook, The Independent, and (above all) the weekly 
edition of the London Times are valuable. Carlton Hayes's British Social 
Politics is composed of many valuable speeches and documents of the period 
1906-1912. 



CHAPTER XXXVII 
SCIENCE AND SOCIAL ORGANIZATION 

A. The Advance of Science 

In no branch of human activity did the nineteenth century 
show greater advance than in natural science ; and nowhere 
does the twentieth century promise more startling de- 894. Science 
velopments than in this field. We have seen how the J^gnth^'^^" 
growth of science in the eighteenth century profoundly century 
altered man's conception of the universe, and set him to search- 
ing for the "natural laws" by which it is governed. Since then 
— by patient observation and experimentation, and by the in- 
vention of apparatus more and more delicately exact — scientists 
have added enormously to our body of knowledge. At the same 
time they have advanced scientific theories which have revolu- 
tionized our conceptions of life and of the imiverse. 

Probably the most fundamental idea which nineteenth-century 
science gave to the world was that of evolution. This theory 
teaches that all things have come into their present form 895. Darwir 
by a process of modification extending through unnum- theory ^of 
bered millions of years. The almost universal acceptance evolution 
of this theory to-day is largely the result of the studies of Charles 
Darwin (1809-1882). After more than twenty years of re- 
search on plant and animal life, he set forth the results of his 
studies, in 1859, in a book entitled The Origin of Species by 
Means of Natural Selection. Many more plants and animals, 
he argued, come into existence every year than can possibly 
find food, or even room to live, on the earth. Consequently 
there is always going on, among members of the same species 
and among different species, a desperate struggle for existence. 
No two individuals, however, even of the same species, are 

737 



738 



SCIENCE AND SOCIAL ORGANIZATION 



exactly alike. Therefore it is the individuals and the species 
which are best adapted to the conditions in which they find 
themselves, that survive and transmit their peculiar qualities 
to their descendants. This weeding out of the unfit, Darwin 
called natural selection; he also applied to it the term "the 
survival of the fittest." Darwin argued that it was through the 




Darwin 



preservation and accumulation in this way of individual varia- 
tions that new species of plants and animals arise. In similar 
ways he accounted for the development of the higher animals 
and plants from simple one-celled organisms like the amoeba. 



THE ADVANCE OF SCIENCE 739 

Investigators since Darwin's time have added to the evidence 
which he brought forward, and have modified his theory in 
several directions. The idea, however, that all things have 
come to their present state by a process of evolution, remains 
unshaken. Says the philosopher and historian, John Fiske : 
"There is no more reason for supposing that this conclusion 
will ever be gainsaid than for supposing that the Copernican 
astronomy will sometime be overthrown." 

In the special fields of medicine and surgery the germ theory 
of disease has been as revolutionary in its effects as the theory 
of evolution has been on the progress of science in general, g^^^ Germ 
Within the past fifty years it has been proved conclusively theory of 
that practically all contagious and infectious diseases — 
together with the blood poisoning which used so frequently 
to follow surgical operations — are caused by minute organ- 
isms, commonly known as bacteria. These microscopic, one- 
celled bodies are everywhere about us ; and under favorable . 
conditions of heat, moisture, and food supply they multiply 
with enormous rapidity. For cholera, typhoid fever, bubonic 
plague, diphtheria, lockjaw, pneumonia, tuberculosis, and a 
number of other diseases, the special organism which causes 
the disease has been identified. It has been discovered, more- 
over, that certain diseases are almost invariably spread in some 
one particular way — as yellow fever and malaria by the bites 
of mosquitoes, bubonic plague by fleas carried on rats, typhoid 
fever by impure milk or water, and tuberculosis through the 
dried sputum of persons suffering from that disease. 

Knowledge of the cause enables physicians to treat those 
diseases more intelligently. Remedies called "antitoxins" have 
been found to counteract the "toxins" or poisons formed by the 
organisms ' which produce diphtheria, lockjaw, and some other 
diseases ; and the search for similar remedies continues. The 
germ theory also enables men to take better precautions 
to prevent the spread of disease. Everywhere strict quaran- 
tine laws are now passed, and measures are taken to improve 
sanitation, especially in the cities. Aseptic surgery has greatly 



740 SCIENCE AND SOCIAL ORGANIZATION 

decreased the danger in operations. Immunity from certain 
diseases — notably smallpox — is secured by vaccination. 
Medical progress in recent years, indeed, is so great that we may 
look forward with confidence to a time when man's war on all 
contagious diseases will be as successful as his battle with yellow 
fever in Cuba and with malaria in Panama, where these diseases 
were practically wiped out in the first decade of the century. 

Comparatively few, however, of the hundreds of varieties 
of bacteria which swarm the earth, the air, and the water, are 

897. Useful harmful to mankind. On the contrary, life on this planet 
bacteria would soon cease were it not for bacteria. These minute 

organisms are the agents in carrying on the process of putre- 
faction or decay, — which is nature's means of disposing of dead 
organisms and waste organic matter, and of bringing their ele- 
ments into new combinations. Our knowledge of this fact is now 
made use of in the sewerage systems of many cities. Bacteria 
are responsible also for the fermentation (souring) of milk and 
of fruit juices, and so play an important part in butter- arid cheese- 
making, and in the manufacture of vinegar and wine. In the 
form of yeast they are essential to bread-making. By means 
of these tiny organisms, also, such plants as peas and beans are 
enabled to seize upon the nitrogen of the air (which otherwise 
they could not do) and thus increase the fertility of the soil. 
The scientific application of bacteriology to agriculture and other 
forms of industry, indeed, is just beginning. The whole subject 
of making this microscopic organic life serve man's purpose 
offers a most interesting and profitable field for research. 

Progress in physics, too, has kept pace with that in biology. 
Electricity was known to the ancient Greeks, and was 

898. Prog- experimented with by several seventeenth- and eight- 
BhTsics and eenth-century scientists, including Benjamin Franklin, 
chemistry In the nineteenth century electrical science advanced 

rapidly. The invention of the electric telegraph was mainly 
the work of an American, Samuel F. B. Morse, whose first 
attempts date from 1835. Two Englishmen worked out and 
patented inventions of their own for the same purpose at a 



THE ADVANCE OF SCIENCE 741 

slightly later date. In 1858 a submarine cable was laid to con- 
nect Great Britain and the United States. This soon broke, 
however, and it was not until 1866 that it became possible to 
send telegraphic messages regularly between the Old World 
and the New. Alexander Bell, an American, invented the 
telephone in 1876. The electric light is also an American in- 
vention, C. F. Brush having invented the arc light in 1878, and 
Thomas A. Edison the incandescent light in 1879. One of 
the earliest electric street cars was exhibited at Paris in 1881. 
Still more recently have come the discovery of the "X-rays," 
which penetrate substances opaque to rays of light (discovered 
by a German, Rontgen, in 1895); and the "Hertzian waves" 
(also discovered by a German, Hertz, in 1887). As a result of 
the latter discovery the Italian Marconi developed in 1896 
his system of wireless telegraphy. 

Chemistry also advanced rapidly in the nineteenth century. 
Only a few of its useful applications can here be noted. Gas was 
first applied to lighting purposes in London in 1816. Friction 
matches were first produced on a commercial scale in Great 
Britain about 1833, before that time fire being usually ob- 
tained by striking a piece of flint against steel. Photography 
began in 1839 with the "daguerrotype," named from its French 
inventor, Daguerre (da-gar'). Among other useful applications 
of chemistry may be named the production of chemical fer- 
tilizers, beet sugar, aniline (coal-tar) dyes, chemical medicines, 
wood-pulp paper, and aluminum. The canning of food was in- 
troduced early in the nineteenth century by a Frenchman named 
Appert. Chemistry has given us new and more powerful ex- 
plosives, such as nitroglycerin (1847), dynamite (1864), and 
smokeless powder (first invented in 1870). The shattering 
power of the first two of these has greatly aided quarrpng, 
tunneling, and other blasting operations ; it also gives to revo- 
lutionists and criminals a new and terrible weapon. 

The progress of physics and chemistry brought with it a clearer 
understanding of the nature of light, of electricity, and of the 
ether. The discovery of radium (1898) has forced scientists to 



742 



SCIENCE AND SOCIAL ORGANIZATION 



899. The 
gasoline 
engine, the 
automobile, 
and the 
aeroplane 



question some ideas once universally accepted, — such as the 
nature and indestructibility of matter, and the transmutation of 
force. In the field of pure physics we seem on the eve of great 
discoveries, the nature of which it is impossible to forecast. 

The advance of scientific engineering produced (about 1876) 
a new type of engine — the gas or "internal combustion" 
engine — whose subsequent development transformed lo- 
comotion. The gas engine is run by the direct explosion 
in its cylinders of a gas, such as the vapor of gasoline. It 
is now used for hundreds of .purposes, — in the home, on 
the farm, and in the factory. Its most common appli- 
cation is in the automobile, which was first made practicable 
about 1894. Since then motor cars have developed so 




Zeppelin Airship (Germany) 



rapidly that in large cities horse-drawn vehicles are now the 
exception. 

The gasoline motor has also enabled man to begin the con- 
quest of the air. The first dirigible airship driven by a gaso- 
line motor was constructed in Germany in 1897. Since then 



THE ADVANCE OF SCIENCE 



743 



the German government has built larger arid ever larger air- 
ships, until it now possesses an aerial fleet of which each vessel is 
capable of flying hundreds of miles and carrying a dozen or more 
men. The first practicable motor-driven aeroplane (that is, a 
machine without gas 
bags to sustain its 
weight) was construc- 
ed by a Frenchman 
(Santos-Dumont) in 
1906. The chief credit 
for developing the 
aeroplane, however, 
belongs to two Ameri- 
cans, Wilbur and Or- 
ville Wright, who 
made the first success- 
ful demonstration of 
their "biplane" at 
Fort Myer, Virginia, in 
September, 1908. In 
both the Italian-Turk- 
ish War and the Bal- 
kan War aeroplanes 
were successfully em- 
ployed for scouting 
purposes. It is confi- 
dently predicted that 

yet larger uses for them, as well as for dirigible airships, will be 
found both in war and in peace. Aerial navigation may prove 
as epoch-making in the world's history as the application of 
steam to industry in the eighteenth century, or the inven- jj g ^jj. 
tion of gunpowder, the compass, and the printing press Hams, in 
at the close of the Middle Ages. A writer on the his- Britamdca'^ 
tory of science predicts that the conquest of the air will (nth ed.), 
lead to "the emergence of humanity from the insular- ' ^° 
ity of nationalism to the broad view of cosmopolitanism" 




AJEROPLANE (Farman Biplane) 



744 SCIENCE AND SOCIAL ORGANIZATION 

— an end to which The Hague Conferences and other influences 
are already tending. 

B. Popular Government and Social Justice 

A significant feature of the opening years of the twentieth 
century is the growing passion for "social justice." The nine- 
900. Ideals teenth century was chiefly occupied in achieving the first 
of equality demand of the French revolutionists, — namely, political 
ternity Liberty. The ideals of Equality of opportunity and the 

brotherhood of man (Fraternity) are still far from realization. 
The changed conditions of society which have resulted from the 
Industrial Revolution are now forcing upon the world the con- 
sideration of the steps by which these ideals also may be attained. 
The idea of the sovereignty of the people — which a hundred 
years ago was repudiated by the reactionary Powers responsible 
001 Exten- ^°'* Napoleon Bonaparte's overthrow — is now accepted 
sion of the in almost all progressive countries, however imperfectly 
ranc se -^ ^^^ ^^ carried out. But certain questions still remain : 
Who are the people? and How are they to make their will effective? 
In answering the first of these questions, the tendency is to ex- 
tend the voting franchise to every adult male citizen of sane 
mind, who is unconvicted of crime. In many countries also a 
movement is rapidly growing to extend the franchise still further 
by giving it to women. 

The Industrial Revolution, with its factory system, brought, 
women — whether for good or for ill — into the industrial world 
902. Move- alongside of men. Woman's increasing economic im- 
"^^man'^ portance has helped to free her from the legal restric- 
suffrage tions which in most countries, until the middle of the nine- 
teenth century, subjected her person and her property either to 
her husband or to her father. Opportunities for education 
have been opened to her; and educational equality, together 
with growing legal and economic equality, have created the 
demand for political equality. In Australia, New Zealand, 
Finland, and a number of states of the United States, women 



POPULAR GOVERNMENT AND SOCIAL JUSTICE 745 

have been granted the right to vote in all elections on the same 
terms as men. In many other countries — among them Eng- 
land, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland — they vote under 
certain restrictions, or in certain elections only. In the 
twentieth century the movement has grown with surprising 
rapidity. The stimulus applied to the movement by the 
"militant methods" of the English "suffragettes" (§ 888) may 
be a partial explanation of this development. 

The overthrow of the last absolute governments has been 
described in previous sections. To-day, in all the civilized 
countries of the world, the people share in the government 903- The 
of the state by electing representatives to act for them. Referendum 
They are no longer satisfied, however, to allow their rep- and Recall 
resentatives the large freedom of action which representatives 
formerly possessed. The demand is now arising for direct con- 
trol by the people over all, or almost all, departments of the 
government. Methods for securing this control have been 
worked out most fully in the Republic of Switzerland. They 
are known as the Initiative and the Referendum. By the 
Initiative, if 50,000 Swiss voters desire the passing of a certain 
law, they may require their proposal to be submitted to a vote 
of the people ; and if the proposal is adopted by a majority 
of the voters it becomes law without the consent of the Federal 
Parliament. The Referendum supplements the Initiative by 
requiring that any law passed by the Parliament must, upon 
demand of 30,000 voters, be submitted to the people for ratifica- 
tion or rejection. 

These Swiss institutions, in whole or in part, have been 
adopted in Australia, and in many states and cities of the 
United States. In the United States a third feature has, in 
some places, been added — the Recall of elective officers. This 
means that, on petition of a specified per cent of the voters, an 
official may at any time be compelled to submit himself and his 
administration to the judgment of the voters in a new election. 
If upheld, he retains office to the end of his term ; if not upheld, 
he turns over the government at once to his elected successor. 



746 SCIENCE AND SOCIAL ORGANIZATION 

In Great Britain, and in all countries which have the cabinet 
system of government, the " appeal to the country " — as for 
example in 19 lo on the question of the budget — is essentially 
a referendum and recall.^ 

The Initiative, the Referendum, and the Recall are considered 

by many persons to be the best answers thus far found to the 

Woodrow important question. How are the people to make their 

Wilson, ^yii effective in popular governments? "Back of all re- 

Freedom, form," says President Woodrow Wilson, "lies the method 

228-229 (jf getting it. Back of the question, What do you want ? 

lies the question — the fundamental question of all government 

— How are you going to get it ? How are you going to get public 

servants who will obtain it for you ? How are you going to get 

genuine representatives who will serve your interests, and not 

their own or the interests of some special group or body of your 

fellow-citizens whose power is of the few and not of the many ? 

These are the queries which have drawn the attention of the 

whole country to the subject of the direct primary, the direct 

choice of their officials by the people, without the intervention 

of the nominating machine [convention] ; to the subject of the 

direct election of United States Senators ; and to the question 

of the Initiative, Referendum, and Recall." 

Allowing for inevitable differences growing out of differences 
in political organization, the same questions are being raised 
in the more progressive countries of Europe also. 

Another vital question to which present-day conditions are 

forcing us to give new answers is. What are the functions 

904. En- of government ? or more briefly, What shall the govern- 

tions of the" ^^^^ ^^ ^ "^^^ early nineteenth-century answer to this 

government question was, Laissez fairs, — "Let things alone." This 

policy did a good work in helping to break down outgrown 

medieval restrictions on manufactures and commerce, and on 

iThe Lords proposed in igio that all measures on which the two Houses of 
Parliament could not agree should be submitted to a referendum of the people. 
The Liberals strongly opposed this proposal, on the ground that the Lords could 
thus at any time put the members of the House of Commons to the trouble and 
expense of a new election, without themselves being in any way inconvenienced. 



POPULAR GOVERNMENT AND SOCIAL JUSTICE 747 

freedom of thought, of speech, and of individual action. But 
the hideous results of unrestrained competition, as seen in the 
factories and mines of the early nineteenth century, and in the 
poorer quarters of most cities to the present day, compelled 
governments to abandon the laissez faire theory. More 
and more the state has been obliged to intervene in behalf of 
the less fortunate members of society. The functions of gov- 
ernment have thus been extended to include hundreds of duties 
which formerly were thought to lie within the province of private 
individuals and private associations.^ In most progressive 
governments of to-day either the central government or the 
provincial and city governments have assumed the responsibility 
for public education. Free schools are provided, ranging from 
the elementary schools to the university. Public libraries and 
museums have been opened, and in Germany almost every 
important city has its municipal or state theater. Many Eu- 
ropean and American cities meet the need for recreation by sup- 
plying public playgrounds and parks, and providing free con- 
certs in these at certain seasons in the year. A board of public 
health, with control over city hospitals, dispensaries, and gen- 
eral sanitation, forms a department of most state and city 
governments. Pure food and drug laws regulate, for the safety 
of the public, the manufacture and sale of these necessary ar- 
ticles. Most modern cities, also, have building laws designed to 
protect their inhabitants against the dangers of fire and accident. 
In addition, many cities undertake to improve the housing of 

1 Leaders of the Democratic party in the United States, which was originally a 
party of "strict construction" and laissez faire, have come to see this, equally with 
members of other parties. "I feel confident that if Jefferson were living to-day," 
says President Woodrow Wilson, " he would see what we see : that the individual 
is caught in a great confused nexus of all sorts of complicated circumstances, and 
that to let him alone is to leave him helpless as against the obstacles with which 
he has to contend ; and that, therefore, law in our day must come to the assistance 
of the individual. It has come to his assistance to see that he gets fair play ; that 
is all, but that is much. Without the watchful interference, the resolute interfer- 
ence of the government, there can be no fair play between individuals and such 
powerful institutions as the trusts. Freedom to-day is something more than being 
let alone. The program of a government of freedom must in these days be positive, 
not negative merely." — Woodrow Wilson, The New Freedom, p. 284. 



748 SCIENCE AND SOCIAL ORGANIZATION 

the poor, either by regulations concerning privately owned 
resident property, or (as in London, Liverpool, and elsewhere) 
by constructing and managing model tenements, which are 
rented at moderate rates. Municipal ownership or control of 
what are called public utilities is gradually but surely increasing. 
There are few large cities now which do not own and operate 
one or more of the following utilities : waterworks, gas and 
electric plants, street railways, and the like. In Germany, 
France, Italy, and Russia the steam railways (either wholly 
or in part) are owned and operated by the government. In 
England the telephone and telegraph systems, together with a 
parcel post and postal savings banks, are managed by the post- 
ofl&ce department of the central government. In our own 
country the parcel post and postal savings banks have recently 
been introduced. 

Since the decay, dating from the time of the Reformation, 
of the charitable institutions of the medieval church govern- 
005. The ments have usually recognized their obligation to care 
war on for the aged and infirm poor. Both England and Ger- 

poverty many, as we have seen (§§ 779, 881), now have provisions 

also for old age pensions and for state insurance against sickness 
and disability. France, Austria, Belgium, Italy, and the Scan- 
dinavian countries have passed similar laws. In practically all 
these countries, as well as in the United States, there are now 
laws which grant workingmen a more just compensation in case 
of accidents suffered in their employments. The problem of 
unemployment is also being dealt with both through state in- 
surance (as in Great Britain) and through the creation of labor 
exchanges and employment bureaus, both public and private, 
which seek to bring together employers in need of labor and 
workmen in need of employment. In certain trades (such as 
the so-called " sweated trades " — garment making, cardboard- 
box-making, etc.), in which starvation wages have been paid, 
Great Britain has established minimum wages enforced by law ; 
and the same principle has been proposed to apply to all women's 
wages. Under some governments too pensions are provided 



THE SPREAD OF SOCIALISM 749 

for poor widows with minor children dependent upon them; 
and also (notably in Great Britain) they make provision for 
providing meals for destitute children attending the pubHc 
schools. Thus in manifold ways governments to-day are seek- 
ing to combat the misery arising from the appalling poverty in 
which so large a proportion of the poor live in our great cities. 
They are also searching out and trying to remedy — so far as 
they are remediable — the causes of this poverty; for it is 
realized that no state can permanently prosper in which from 
one quarter to one third of its inhabitants are unable to provide 
themselves with the bare necessities of decent Uving. The 
more hopeful statesmen, indeed, look forward (with Lloyd 
George of England) to a time " when poverty with its wretched- 
ness and squalor will be as remote from the people as the 
wolves which once infested the forests." 

C. The Spread of Socialism 

Those who oppose the extension of the functions of govern- 
ment described in the preceding sections, do so usually on the 
ground that these measures are " socialistic." The real Socialists, 
on the other hand, while they regard these measures as steps in 
the right direction, consider them wholly inadequate for the 
solution of the modern problems of society. They claim that 
the cause of poverty, and of most of the ills of the modern world, 
is to be found in the unequal and unjust distribution of wealth. 
And in their view the only remedy for these conditions is a 
complete reorganization of society. 

The rise of socialism has been touched upon in a previous 
section (§ 710). Modern Socialists regard most of the early 
writers on this subject as impractical dreamers. The ^^ -pxes- 
founder of the present-day international Socialist party ent-day 
was the German writer, Karl Marx, who published his ^°<^'*"^™ 
great work entitled Capital in 1867. Marx maintained that 
labor, in the broadest sense of the term, is the source of all 
wealth ; and that the laborers — that is, artisans, engineers, 



750 SCIENCE AND SOCIAL ORGANIZATION 

superintendents, teachers, authors, artists, etc. — should re- 
ceive the whole net product of labor. That they do not do so, 
he held, is because capital — in the form of machinery, build- 
ings, land, mines, etc. — is in the hands of a comparatively 
small class, who derive very large incomes from its use, without 
themselves taking part in the work of production. The owner- 
ship of capital (the means of production) ought therefore, he 
argued, to be transferred from private hands to the state. / Then 
the state should itself operate all industries, for the benefit of 
the people. Marx believed that the whole course of history 
tended to this outcome. He .predicted that as capital became 
more and more concentrated in the hands of the few, and the 
working class become correspondingly larger, the antagonism 
between the two classes (capitalists and laborers) would result 
in a class war. He looked forward to this as the means for 
establishing government ownership of capital, and the resulting 
management by the government of all forms of production. 

Socialist political parties, founded on these ideas, have arisen 
in Germany, France, England, Italy, Austria, Russia, and the 
007. Recent United States. Some groups of Socialists reject in part 
Socialist the doctrines of Marx, especially the notion of an inevi- 
^^"^ table class war. Even those who do not reject this urge the 

employment of the gradual and peaceful methods of education 
and legislation as one means of bringing about the social reor- 
ganization which they desire. The Socialist parties which take 
an active part in politics have made great gains in recent years. 
In Germany, in 191 2, they polled 4,238,000 votes, — the largest 
popular vote of any party in that election, — and elected no 
out of the 397 members of the Reichstag. In France, though 
the Socialists are weakened by divisions within their own ranks, 
their various groups (taken together) in 19 10 elected 356 out of 
584 members of the Chamber of Deputies. In the elections in 
Great Britain, in 1910, the Labor party (which has adopted a 
Socialist platform) returned 42 members to Parliament. In the 
United States, in 191 1, more than 400 Socialists were holding 
elective offices — federal, State, and municipal. The greatest 



TOPICS AND REFERENCES 75 1 

Socialist victory, however, has been won in Australia, where in 
1910 the Labor party (Socialist) secured entire control of the 
federal government. 

It is evident from this account that the movement for "social 
justice" is making grea,t progress. The condition of the poor 
and the downtrodden is already better than at any time 908. Pros- 
since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. If social°bet- 
means can be found whereby the ill effects of this great terment 
change in industry can be wiped out, while retaining its enor- 
mous benefits, we may expect to see the material condition of 
mankind as a whole raised to a higher level than has ever been 
attained in the history of the world. 

In the opinion of many serious thinkers, however, this improve- 
ment of man's material lot is not likely to be accomplished by 
the adoption of the Socialist program, but will probably come 
through a gradual betterment of conditions under the present 
system. 

TOPICS AND REFERENCES 

Suggestive Topics. — What is the chief difference between the methods 
by which modern science increases knowledge and those of the medieval 
scholastics? (2) State in your own words the theory of evolution. Why 
is it important? (3) Compare the benefits conferred on mankind by the 
advance of medicine and surgery in recent years with those produced by the 
Industrial Revolution. (4) Name some inventions in use to-day which 
were unknown when your parents were children. (5) Does extension of the 
franchise always produce better government ? Name some instances to the 
contrary. (6) On what grounds might extension of the franchise be justi- 
fied in cases where it does not improve the government ? (7) Would giving 
the ballot to women be wise or unwise ? Why ? (8) What applications of 
the ideas underlying the initiative and referendum have been made in our 
governments? (9) What tests should be applied in determining whether 
the government should undertake new functions, such as postal savings 
banks, etc. ? (10) Is the cause of poverty to be found more in the failure 
of mankind to produce enough goods for the world's consumption, or in 
unequal distribution of the goods produced ? (i i) Name some of the means 
suggested for reducing or abolishing poverty. (12) Would socialism be a 
good or a bad thing for the world ? Give your reasons. (13) How do you 
account for the recent growth of socialistic parties in Europe, Australia, 



752 SCIENCE AND SOCIAL ORGANIZATION 

and America? (14) Compare the rapidity of changes in government, 
society, and knowledge in the past hundred years with the rate of change in 
preceding centuries. (15) Is this rapidity of change likely to keep up 
indefinitely? Give your reasons. 

Search Topics. — (i) Darwin and Evolution. Encyclopedia Britan- 
nica, 840-843 ; Wallace, The Progress of the Century, 3-29 ; Robinson and 
Beard, Readings, II, 507-513. — (2) Pasteur and the Germ Theory 
or Disease. Encyclopedia Britannica, 892-894. — (3) Development of 
Medicine and Surgery. The Progress of the Century, 173-214, 232-261. — 
(4) Progress in Physics. The Progress of the Century, 308-328. — (5) 
Wireless Telegraphy. Encyclopedia Britannica, XXVI, 529-541. — 
(6) Motor Vehicles. Encyclopedia Britannica, XVIII, 914-930. — (7) 
The Conquest of the Air. Encyclopedia Britannica, I, 260-270, X, 
516-519. — (8) Woman Suffrage. Encyclopedia Britannica, XXVIII, 
782-788; Robinson and Beard, Readings, II, 474-478; Congressional 
Record, for June 13, 1913 (a petition to congress, reciting the history of 
woman suffrage in Europe and America) . — (9) The Initiative and 
Referendum in Switzerland. Ogg, Social Progress in Europe, ch. xiv; 
Ogg, Governments of Europe, 430-434; Vincent, Government in Switzerland; 
Deploige, The Referendum in Switzerland. — (10) Arguments for Gov- 
ernment Ownership of Public Utilities. Howe, The British City. — 
(11) Arguments Against Public Ownership. H. R. Meyer, Municipal 
Ownership in Great Britain. — -(12) Socialism. Robinson and Beard, 
Development of Modern Europe, II, 396-400 ; Robinson and Beard, Read- 
ings, II, 487-497; Bliss, Cyclopedia of Social Reform, 1131-1135; H. G. 
Wells, New Worlds for Old, chs. i-iv, xv ; Ely, Socialism, Its Strength and 
Weaknesses. — (13) Arguments Against Socialism. Robinson and Beard, 
Development, II, 402-404; Robinson and Beard, Readings, II, 497~S°5; 
Bliss, Clyclopedia of Social Reform, 1147-1149; Ely, Socialism, Its Strength 
and Weaknesses; Schaeffle, The Impossibility of Socialism. — (14) The 
Spread of Socialism. Ogg, Social Progress, ch. xxii. 

General Reading. — A. R. Wallace (and others), The Progress of the Cen- 
tury; The Nineteenth Century, A Review of Progress ; Wallace, The Wonder- 
ful Century, Its Successes and Failures. In addition, see the yearbooks 
and indexes to periodical literature. 



APPENDIX: LIST OF BOOKS SUITABLE FOR A 
HIGH SCHOOL LIBRARY 

The prices given are the Kst prices, which in most instances are subject 
to a discount. For further titles see the New England History Teachers' 
Association, Syllabus of History for Secondary Schools (Heath & Co.) and 
Historical Sources in Schools (Macmillan). Many excellent small volumes 
are published in the Home University Library (Holt & Co.). This list does 
not include encyclopedias. 

Adams, G. B., Civilization during the Middle Ages. Scribners, N.Y. $2.50. 

Adams, Growth of the French Nation. Macmillan, N.Y. $1.25. 

Airy, O., The English Restoration and Louis XIV. (' Epochs.") Long- 
mans, N.Y. $1.00. 

Anderson, F. M.., Constitutions and Other Select Documents Illustrative of the 
History of France, i78g-igoi. H. W. Wilson Co., Minneapolis. $2.50. 

Andrews, C. M., Historical Development of Modern Europe. (From 1815 to 
1897.) Putnams, N.Y. $2.75. 

Archer, T. A., and Kingsford, C. L., The Crusades. ("Nations.") Put- 
nams, N.Y. $1.50. 

Balzani, Ugo, The Popes and the Hohenstaufen. ("Epochs of Church 
History.") Longmans, N.Y. $.80. 

Beard, Charles K., An Introduction to the English Historians. Macmillan, 
N.Y. $1.60. 

Beesly, E. S., Queen Elizabeth. ("English Statesmen.") Macmillan, N.Y. 

$.75- 
Bryce, James, The Holy Roman Empire. (Revised ed.) Macmillan, N.Y. 

$1.50.- 
Cesaresco, Countess E. M., The Liberation of Italy, 1815-1870. Scribners, 

N.Y. $1.75. 
Cesaresco, Cavour. ("Foreign Statesmen.") Macmillan, N.Y. $.75. 
Cheyney, E. P., Industrial and Social History of England. Macmillan, N.Y. 

$1.40. 
Cheyney, Readings in English History. Ginn, Bost. $1.80. 
Cornish, F. W., Chivalry. Macmillan, N.Y. $1.25. 
Cox, CW., The Crusades. ("Epochs.") Longmans, N.Y. $1.00. 
Creighton,M.,The Age of Elizabeth. ("Epochs.") Longmans, N.Y. fi.oo. 
Davis, H. W. C, Charlemagne. ("Heroes.") Putnams, N.Y. $1.50. 



2 "APPENDIX 

Duncalf, F., and Krey, A. C, Parallel Source Problems in Medieval History. 

Harper, N.Y. $i.io. 
Eginhard, Charlemagne. Am. Book Co., N.Y. $.30. 
Emerton, E., Introduction to the Study of the Middle Ages. Ginn, Bost. 

$1.12. 
Emerton, Mediceval Europe. Ginn, Bost. $1.50. 

Fling, F. M., Source Problems on the French Revolution. Harper, N.Y. $1.10. 
Eroissdxt, Chronicles. (G. C. Macaulay's edition.) Macmillan, N.Y. $1.25. 
Fyffe, C. A., History of Modern Europe. (Popular ed.) Holt, N.Y. $2.75. 
Gardiner, S. R., Students' History of England. Longmans, N.Y. $3.00. 
Gardiner, Puritan Revolution. ("Epochs.") Longmans, N.Y. $1.00. 
Gardiner, Thirty Years' War. ("Epochs.") Longmans, N.Y. $1.00. 
Gasquet, F. A., English Monastic Life. Benziger Bros., N.Y. $2.00. 
Grant, A. J., The French Monarchy, i48j-i'/8g. (" Cambridge Historical 

Series.") Putnams, N.Y. $2.25. 
Green, J. R., Short History of the English People. Am. Book Co., N.Y. 

$1.20. 
Green, History of the English People. 4 vols. A. L. Burt, N.Y. $3.40. 
Hale, E., The Fall of the Stuarts. ("Epochs.") Longmans, N.Y. $1.00. 
Harrison, F., William the Silent. ("Foreign Statesmen.") Macmillan, 

N.Y. $.75. 
Hassall, A., The Balance of Power, 171 5-1789. ("Periods.") Macmillan, 

N.Y. $1.60. 
Hazen, C. D., Europe since 1815. Holt, N.Y. $3.00. 
Headlam, J. W., Bismarck. ("Heroes.") Putnams, N.Y. $1.50. 
Henderson, E., Short History of Germany. 2 vols, in i. Macmillan, N.Y. 

$2.50. 
Hobson, J. A., The Evolution of Modern Capitalism. Scribners, N.Y. $1.50. 
HoUings, Mary A., Europe in Renaissance and Reformation, 1453-1660. 

("Six Ages.") Macmillan, N.Y. $.90. 
Hume, M. A. S., Spain, its Greatness and Decay, 147C/-1788. (" Cambridge 

Historical Series.") Putnams, N.Y. $1.50. 
Johnson, A. H., Europe in the Sixteenth Century, 1494-1598. ("Periods.") 

Macmillan, N.Y. $1.75. 
Johnson, The Age of the Enlightened Despot, 1660-1789. ("Six Ages.") 

Macmillan, N.Y. $.90. 
Johnston, C, and Spencer, C, Ireland's Story. Houghton, Bost. $1.40. 
Johnston, H. H., A History of the Colonization of Africa by Alien Races. 

(" Cambridge Historical Series.") Putnams, N.Y. $1.50. 
Johnston, R. M., The French Revolution. Holt, N.Y. $1.25. 
Johnston, Napoleon, A Short Biography. Holt, N.Y. $1.25. 
Kendall, Elizabeth K., Source-Book of English History. Macmillan, N.Y. 

$.80. 



APPENDIX 3 

Kerr, P. H. and A. C, The Growth of the British Empire. Longmans, N.Y. 
$.50. 

Kir'knp,!^., History of Socialisi7i. Macmillan, N.Y. $2.25. 

Kitchin, G. W., History of France. 3 vols. Oxford, N.Y. $7.80. 

Lane-Poole, Stanley, Saladiu. ("Heroes.") Putnams, N.Y. $1.50. 

Lavisse, E., The Youth of Frederick the Great. Scott, Foresman & Co., Chic. 
$1.50. 

Lees, Beatrice A., The Central Period of the Middle Ages, 127^1453. ("Six 
Ages.") Macmillan, N.Y. $.90. 

Lindsay, T. M., Luther and the German Reformation. Scribners, N.Y. 
$1.25. 

hinds^y, History of the Reformation. 2 vols. Scribners, N.Y. $5.00. 

Lodge, Eleanor C, The End of the Middle Age, 127 3-145 3. ("Six Ages.") 
Macmillan, N.Y. $.90. 

Lodge, R., The Close of the Middle Ages, i2'/3-i4g4. ("Periods.") Mac- 
millan, N.Y. $1.75. 

Lodge, Richelieu. ("Foreign Statesmen.") Macmillan, N-Y. $.75. 

Longmans, F. W., Frederick the Great. ("Epochs.") Longmans, N.Y. $1.00. 

Lowell, E. J., The Eve of the French Revolution. Houghton, Best. $2.00. 

Marriott, J. A. R., The Remaking of Modern Europe, ifSg-iSyS. ("Six 
Ages.") Macmillan, N.Y. $.90. 

Masterman, J. H. B., The Dawn of Medieval Europe. ("Six Ages.") 
Macmillan, N.Y. $.90. 

M.SLihews,S., The French Revolution. Longmans, N.Y. $1.25. 

Miliasin,}!. a., History of Latin Christianity. 4 vols. Doran, N.Y. $6.00. 

Montague, F. C, Elements of English Constitutional History. Longmans, 
N.Y. $1.25. 

Moran, T. F., The Theory and Practice of the English Government. Long- 
mans, N.Y. $1.20. 

Morris, E. E., The Age of Queen Anne. ("Epochs.") Longmans, N.Y. 
fi.oo. 

Morris, The Early Hanoverians. ("Epochs.") Longmans, N.Y. $1.00. 

Motley, J. L., Rise of the Dutch Republic. 3 vols. Harper, N.Y. $2.50. 

Munro, D. C, A History of the Middle Ages. Appleton, N.Y. $.90. 

Munro, D. C, and Sellery, G. C, Medieval Civilization. Century Co., N.Y. 
$2.00. 

Ogg, F. A., Source-Book of Mediceval History. Am. Book Co., N.Y. $1.50. 

Ogg, Social Progress in Contemporary Europe. Macmillan, N.Y. $1.50. 

Ogg, The Governments of Europe. Macmillan, N.Y. $3.00. 

Oman, C. W. C, The Dark Ages, 476-Q18. ("Periods.") Macmillan, N.Y. 

$1.75- 
Perkins, J. B., France under Mazarin, with Sketch of Administration of 
Richelieu. 2 vols. Putnams, N.Y. $4.00. 



4 APPENDIX 

Perkins, France ntider the Regency. Houghton, Bost. $2.00. 

Phillips, W. A., Modern Europe, iSi^-iSpp. ("Periods.") Macmillan, N.Y. 
$1.60. 

Ploetz, C, Epitome of Ancient, Mediceval, and Modern History. Houghton, 
Bost $3.00. 

Robinson, J. H., Readings in European History. 2 vols. Ginn, Bost. 
$3.00. 

Robinson, J. H., and Beard, C. A., Development of Modern Europe. 2 vols. 
Ginn, Bost. $3.10. 

Robinson and Beard, Readings in Modern European History. 2 vols. Ginn, 
Bost. $2.90. 

Robinson, J. H., and Rolfe, H. W., Petrarch, the First Modern Scholar and 
Man of Letters. Putnams, N.Y. $2.00. 

Rose, J. H., The Life of Napoleon I. 2 vols in i. Macmillan, N.Y. $3.00. 

Seebohm, F., The Era of the Protestant Revolution. ("Epochs.") Long- 
mans, N.Y. $1.00. 

Seignobos, C, The Feudal Regime. Holt, N.Y. $.50. 

Shepherd, W. R., Historical Atlas. Holt, N.Y. $2.50. 

Skrine, F. H. B., Expansion of Russia, 1815-igoo. (" Cambridge HistcJrical 
Series.") Putnams, N.Y. $1.50. 

Smith, Munroe, Bismarck and German Unity. Lemcke, N.Y. $1.00. 

Stephens, H. M., History of the French Revolution. 2 vols. Scribners, N.Y. 
$5-oo. 

Stephens, W. R. W., Hildebrand and His Times. ("Epochs of Church 
History.") Longmans, N.Y. $.80. 

Stille, C. J., Studies in Mediceval History. Lippincott, Phila. $2.00. 

Stillman, W. J., The Union of Italy, i8i^-i8gj. (" Cambridge Histori- 
cal Series.") Putnams, N.Y. $1.50. 

Symonds, J. A., A Short History of the Renaissance in Italy. Holt, N.Y. 

$i-75- 
Thatcher, O. J., and Schwill, F., Europe in the Middle Age. Scribners, N.Y. 

$2.00. 

Tout, T. F., The Empire and the Papacy, gi8-i273. ("Periods.") Mac- 
millan, N.Y. $1.75. 

Wakeman, H. O., The Ascendancy of France, 1598-17 15. ("Periods.") 
Macmillan, N.Y. $1.40. 

Walker, W., The Reformation. Scribners, N.Y. $2.00. 

Wallace, A. R., and others. The Progress of the Century. Harpers, N.Y. 
$2.50. 

Woodward, W. H., Short History of the Expansion of the British Empire, 
1500-1902. Putnams, N.Y. $1.00. 

Wylie, J; H., The Council of Constance to the Death of John Hits. Long- 
mans, N.Y. $2.00. 



INDEX 



Diacritic marks: a as in late; a as in fai; a as in far; a as in last; a as in care; a as in 
fall; ch as in chasm; f as in ice; e as in me; e as in met, berry; e as in there; e as in term; 
g as in gem; g as in go; G, German ch; i as in ice; i as in tin; i as in police; k, German ck; 
N, tlie French nasal; 6 as in note; 6 as in not; 6 as in son; 6 as in for; p as in do; u as in 
tune; u as in nut; u as in rude ( = P); ii, French «; y as in my; y as in lady. Single italic 
letters are silent. 



Aachen (a'Ken), Charlemagne's capital, 
37; sacked by Northmen, 45. 

Abbot, 93. 

Abdul-Hamid II (ab-dool-ha-med') , 
711, 712. 

Ab'elard, Peter, 189. 

Aboukir (a-boo-ker') Bay, battle of, 

519. 

Absolute governments, fall of, see 
Liberalism. 

Absolution, 84. 

Abyssin'ia, 690; war with Italy, 617. 

Aca'dia, ceded to England, 394. 

Acre (a'ker), captured, 150, 154. 

Addison, Joseph, author, 428. 

Aden (a'den), British possession, 669. 

Ad-ri-an-6'ple, Visigoths at, 13—15 ; taken 
by Turks, 284; taken by Bulgarians, 
682, 683. 

Adrianople, treaty of, 572. 

Ae-ge'an Islands, 684. 

Aeroplane, 743. 

Afghanistan', 700. 

Africa, exploration of, 687 ; partition 
of, 685-690. 

Agincourt (a-zhaN-koor'), battle of, 252. 

Agriculture, influence of monks, 93 ; 
Mohammedan, 134; medieval Euro- 
pean, 170-173, 202—207; modern 
changes in, 550-552. 

Aids, feudal, 60. 

Air-ship, 742. 

Aix-la-Chapelle (aks-la-sha-pel'), Char- 
lemagne's capital, 37. 

Aix-la-Chapelle, peace of (1748), 441. 

Al'aric, king of Visigoths, 15. 

Alba'nia, 684. 

Albert II, Emperor, 269. 



Albigenses (al-bi-jen'sez), 199, 229. 

Alcuin (al'kwin), 36. 

Alexander I, of Russia, 529, 534-536; 
in Holy AUiance, 568. 

Alexander II, of Russia, 589, 699-700. 

Alexander III, of Russia, 700. 

Alexander III, Pope, 118. 

Alexander V, Pope, 291. 

Alexander VI, Pope, 294-296. 

Alexandria, bombarded, 680. 

Alex'ius Comne'rius, Emperor, 140, 142. 

Alfonso XIII, of Spain, 720. 

Alfred the Great, of England, 49-51. 

Alge'ria, annexed to France, 573. 

AUo'dial estates, 56. 

Alps, geography of, 4. 

Al-saje', added to France, 376; ceded 
to Germany, 630. 

Alsace-Lorraine' question, 675, 676. 

Alva (al'va), duke of, 369—370. 

Amalfi. (a-mal'fe), commercial center, 
182. 

America, discovered by Northmen, 48; 
Enghsh colonies in, 405 ; colonial 
wars in, 447, 454-458; revolt of 
English colonies, 460; Spanish pos- 
sessions, 282, 570. 

Amiens (a-mya,N'), cathedral at, 203- 
206. 

Amiens, peace of, 522. 

Amsterdam, defended against France, 

390- 
Anagni (a-nan'ye), Pope captured at, 

236. 
A-nam', French possession, 695. 
Ancient History, review of, 10. 
An'gevin kings of England, 212. 
Angles, settle in Britain, 15, 48. 



INDEX 



Anglicans, 411. 

Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, 50. 

Anjou (aN-zhoo'), united with English 
crown, 212. 

Anjou, Charles of, 126. 

Annals, 8. 

An'nates, defined, 89. 

Anne of Austria, queen of France, 384. 

Anne of England, 426. 

Antioch (an'ti-ok), taken by crusaders, 
142 ; crusaders' state, 145, 149. 

Ant'werp, commercial center, 183, 367. 

Apennines (ap'en-ninz), 6. 

Apper/', Frangois, inventor, 741. 

Apprentices, in guilds, 182. 

Aqul'nas, Thomas, 195. 

Aq-ui-taine', acquired by English king, 
212, 250; lost to France, 256. 

Arabi (a-ra'be), 680, 681. 

Arabian civilization, 134-136. 

Arabian science, 135. 

Aragon (ar'a-gon), 281, 283; con- 
quests in Italy, 266. 

Arc, Joan of, 253-256. 

Arc/jan'gel, 434. 

Archbishops, 88. 

Architecture, 202-207, 3ii; Byzan- 
tine, 37, 153. 

A'rianism, 16. 

Aristotle (ar'is-tot-'l), 135, 194. 

Arkwright, Richard, inventor, 555. 

Arma'da, Spanish, 352. 

Armaments, increase of (near end of 
19th century), 675. 

Armed Neutrality of the North, 461. 

Armed peace, 675. 

Armenian massacres, 680. 

Arms and armor, medieval, 164, 243, 
245- 

Army, see Military. 

Arques (ark), castle of, 160. 

Art, medieval, 201-207 ; Renaissance, 
309-313. 

Artois (ar-twa'), held by duke of Bur- 
gundy, 264. 

Asia Minor, 714. 

As'quith, prime minister, 725. 

Assembly, French, see National As- 
sembly. 

Assembly of Notables, French, 481. 

Assignats (a-sen'ya), 493. 

Assize of Arms, English, 213. 

Astronomy, 308. 

At'tila, leader of Huns, 15. 



Augsburg (ouks'boorK), commercial 
center, 156, 183; population in Thirty 
Years' War, 378. 

Augsburg, Religious Peace of, 334 ; con- 
firmed, 376. 

Augsburg Confession, 333. 

Augustin'ian friars, 323. 

Augustus, Emperor, 12. 

Aus'terlitz, battle of, 528. 

Australia, colonization of, 462 ; gov- 
ernment, 665; aids British, 671; 
socialism in, 750. 

Austria, rise of, 267, 270, 335-336; 
gains from War of Spanish Succes- 
sion, 394, 395 ; alliance with France 
(1756), 448; in Seven Years' War, 
448-450; annexes part of Poland, 
463, 464; reforms of Joseph II, 
475 ; exchanges possessions in Italy, 
530; wars with Napoleon, 516-517, 
521, 528, 534, 538; an empire, 532; 
make-up of, 603 ; Revolution of 
1848, 601-605 ; possessions in Italy, 
607, 608, 610-616; in German Con- 
federation, 620—623 ; war with Prus- 
sia (1866), 625 ; in Triple Alliance, 
676; in Concert of Great Powers, 
677. 

Austria-Hungary, after 1849, 605-607. 

Austrian Succession, War of, 445-447. 

Automobile, 742. 

Avars (a'varz), in 800, 23. 

Avignon (a-ven-yoN'), papacy at, 236, 
288-292. 

Azof (a'zof), added to Russia, 433, 436. 

Babylonian Captivity of the Church, 
236, 285. 

Bacon, Roger, 195, 309. 

Bacon, Sir Francis, 353; quoted, 195. 

Bacte'ria, 739-740. 

Ba'den, 531, 626, 631. 

Bag-dad', Mohammedan center, 134, 
136. 

Ba-la-kla'va, battle of, 589. 

Balance of Power, 383, 392, 443. 

Bal'four, prime minister, 725. 

Bal'kan Mountains, 6. 

Balkan War (1912-1913), 682-685, 713. 

Ball, John, 273-274. 

Baltic Sea, a "secondary Mediter- 
ranean," 4. 

Bank of France, created, 522. 

Baptism, sacrament of, 83. 



INDEX 



Barbarism, lo. 

Barebone's Parliament, 416. 

Ba'ri, taken by Normans, 69. 

Baron, rank in feudal system, 58. 

Basel (ba'zel), council of, 293. 

Bas-tilfe', fall of, 489. 

Bata'vian Republic, 509-510, 530. 

Battle, trial by, 62. 

Bava'ria, stem duchy, 99; made an 
electorate, 376; in War of Spanish 
Succession, 393 ; in War of the Aus- 
trian Succession, 445; made a king- 
dom, 530, 531 ; alliance with North 
German Confederation, 626; in 
German Empire, 630-632. 

Ba-y6n»e', an English possession, 251, 
256. 

Beaconsfield, earl of (Disraeli), 648- 
650, 644. 

Becket, Thomas, 215-216. 

"Beggars" of the Netherlands, 369-370. 

Begging friars, 95. 

Belfry, city, 178. 

Belgium, annexed to France, 500, 517; 
annexed to Holland (Netherlands), 
543; independent, 575-576; acquires 
Kongo colony, 688 ; see also Nether- 
lands. 

Bell, Alexander, 741. 

Benedict, Saint, 92. 

Benedictine monks, 92-94. 

Ben'e-fije, 55, 56. 

Benefit of clergy, 82 ; in England, 216. 

Ben-gal', conquered by British, 457. 

Ber'gen, station of Hanseatic League, 
185. 

Berlin, population in Thirty Years' 
War, 378; burned (1760), 449; 
taken by Napoleon, 528; Revolution 
of 1S48 in, 621. 

Berlin, Congress of (1878), 678; (1884- 
1885), 688. 

Berlin decree, 532. 

Bermudas, British possession, 669. 

Bern, Swiss city, 272. 

Bernadotie', of Sweden, 533. 

Bernard of Clairvaux (clar-vo'), Saint, 
190. 

Bill of Rights, 423, 424. 

Bishops, 87 ; in feudal system, 58. 

Bis'marck, Otto von, 623-635 ; in Con- 
gress of Berlin, 678. 

Black Death, 246. 

Black Prince, 244, 247, 250. 



Black Sea, war vessels in, 589, 677. 

Blanche of Castile, 232. 

Blen'Aeim, battle of, 393. 

Bliicher (blii'Ker), 540. 

Boccaccio (bok-ka'cho), 305, 306. 

Boers (borz), 666, 667. 

Bohe'mia, a Slavic country, 100; sub- 
ject to Empire, 103 ; under the Lux- 
emburgs, 268 ; electorate, 268 ; heresy 
in, 292; joined to Austria, 335—336; 
Reformation in, 357 ; revolt of 1618, 
373 ; reforms of Joseph II, 475 ; Revo- 
lution of 1848, 604, 605. 

Bs'he-mond, crusader, 141. 

Bokhara (bo-Ka'ra), 700. 

Boleyn, Anne, 345, 346. 

Bologna (bo-lon'ya), University of, 
192, 193, 196. 

Bombay', English at, 456. 

Bo'na-parte, Jerome, 530. 

Bonaparte, Joseph, 530, 533. 

Bonaparte, Louis, 530. 

Bonaparte, Napoleon, see Napoleon. 

Bon'iface VIII, Pope, 128, 235, 236. 

Bordeaux (bor-do'), an English pos- 
■ session, 251, 256. 

Bor'gfa family, 294. 

Borodi'no, battle of, 536. 

Boroughs, represented in Parliament, 
223—224, 641—644. 

Bosnia (boz'ni-a), acquired by Austria, 
678. 

Boswell (boz'well), James, 428. 

Bosworth (boz'worth) Field, battle of, 
280. 

Botany Bay, settled, 462. 

Bo't/ja, General, 667. 

Boulogne (boo-lon'), Napoleon at, 
527, 528. 

BoMr'bon, House of, 362, 363 ; Spanish, 
392 ; of Naples, 530, 543. 

Bourgeois, Bourgeoisie (boor-zhwa', 
boor-zhwa-ze'), 468, 583. 

Bouvines (boo-ven'), battle of, 123, 
217, 229. 

Boxer War, 698. 

Boycott, in Ireland, 651. 

Boyne, battle of the, 424. 

Bramante (bra-man'ta), 311. 

Bran'den-burg, electorate, 268; in 
Thirty Years' War, 374-376; union 
with Prussia, 437-439. 

Brazil, 723. 

Breitenfeld (bri'ten-felt), battle of, 374. 



INDEX 



Brem'en, 185, 631. 

Brenner Pass, 5. 

Bretigny (bre-ten-ye'), peace of, 242. 

Bright, John, 647. 

Brill, capture of, 370. 

Britain, conquered by Angles and 
Saxons, 15, 48. 

British Empire, founding of, 453-462 ; 
extent and government, 661—671. 

British Isles, in 800, 23. 

Browning, Robert, 654. ■ 

Bruce, David, 241. 

Bruges (briizh), commercial center, 
183; station of Hanseatic League, 
1 8s; belfry of, 178. 

Brunswick (brunz'wick) , duchy of, 121, 
631. 

Brush, C. F., 741. 

Brussels, manufacturing town, 367. 

Buck'ing-Aam, duke of, 406, 407, 408. 

Budget struggle of 1909 in Great 
Britain, 726, 727. 

Building laws, 747. 

Bulga'ria, in 800, 23; conquered by 
Eastern Empire, 132 ; conquered by 
Turks, 284; self-governing, 679; inde- 
pendent, 712; war with Turkey 
(1912-1913), 682-684; trouble with 
allies, 684-685. 

Bulls, papal, defined, 89. 

Bundesrat (boon'des-rat), 632. 

Bunyan, John, 420. 

Burghers, rise of, 174. 

Burg^'ley, Lord, 348. 

Burgun'dian party, in France, 251, 252, 
253, 256. 

Burgundians, settle in Rhone valley, 15. 

Bur'gundy, added to the Empire, 103. 

Burgundy, Charles the Bold of, 264. 

Burgundy, French dukes of, 251, 252, 
25s, 264. 

Burgundy, Mary of, 265. 

Burke, Edmund, opinion of the French 
Revolution, 501. 

Bur'ma, 66g. 

Burns, Robert, 428. 

Byron, Lord, 654, 571. 

By-zan'tine architecture, 37, 153. 

Byzantine Empire, 23 ; see Eastern 
Empire. 

Cabinet government in England, rise of, 
425, 427 ; present British Cabinet, 
655-660, 746. 



Ca'diz, Drake at, 352. 

Caesar, Julius, 12; calendar, 354. 

Cahiers (ka-ya'), 486. 

Cai'ro, Mohammedan center, 134, 135. 

Calais (ka-le'), taken by English, 245; 
lost, 347. 

Calcutta, English at, 456, 457. 

Calderon (cal-da-ron'), author, 380. 

Calendar, reform of the, 354; French 
Revolutionary, 504. 

Ca'liphs, 18, 136. 

Cal'vin, John, 342-343. 

Cambo'dia, 695. 

Cam^'bell-Ban'nerman, prime minister, 
725- 

Camperdown', battle of, 518. 

Campo For'mio, treaty of, 517, 531. 

Canada, French colony, 387, 455 ; ceded 
to England, 458; aids British, 671; 
government, 661-665. 

Canal building, 560. 

Cannon, 244, 256. 

Canon law, 82, 197. 

Ca-nos'sa, Emperor and Pope at, 109. 

Canterbury, archbishop of, 88. 

Can-ton', Chinese port, 694. 

Ca-nute', king of Denmark and Eng- 
land, 71. 

Cape of Good Hope (Cape Colony), 389, 
543, 665-667. 

Cape St. Vincent, battle of, 518. 

Ca-pe/', Hugh, 41, 227. 

Capetians (ca-pe'shanz), 42 ; kings of 
France, 227. 

Capitalists, 560, 564; socialist theory 
of, 749-750. 

" Capit'ularies " of Charlemagne, 33. 

Cap'pel, battle of, 341. 

Car-bo-na'ri, 569. 
. Cardinals, 91. 

Car-noi', 504, 511, 520. 

Carolingians, 20, 41—42. 

Carpa'thian Mountains, 6. 

Cartwright, Edmund, inventor, 556. 

Castile', rise of, 281, 283; in Hundred 
Years' War, 250. 

Castles, as places of deposit and de- 
fense, 53 ; description of castles, 160- 
163, 165, 167; in England, 212, 213. 

Cathedral chapter, 88. 

Cathedral schools, 188. 

Cathedrals, defined, 87 ; description, 
202—207, 231. 

Catherine, wife of Henry V, 252, 253. 



INDEX 



Catherine de' Medici (da med'e-che), 
queen of France, 361. 

Catherine of Aragon, wife of Henry 
VIII, 345- 

Catherine II, of Russia, 437, 463, 474. 

Catholic emancipation, in Great Britain, 
640. 

Catholic League, in France, 362. 

Catholics, see Reformation, Church, 
Pope. 

Catholics, in England, 404, 420, 422, 640. 

Cau 'casus Mountains, 6. 

Cavalier Parliament, 419. 

Cavaliers, 411. 

Cavour (ca-voor'), Coimt, 608-616. 

Caxton, William, 344. 

Celibacy of the clergy, 82, 103, 105, 333. 

Celts, 211. 

Censorship of the press, 356, 469, 603 ; 
in Turkey, 711. 

Cervan'tes, 380. 

Cevennes (sa-ven'), 6. 

Ceylon', 389, 522, 543, 669. 

Chamber of Deputies, present French, 
596. 

Cham'ber-lain, Joseph, 651, 731. 

Chambord (shaN-bor'), count of, 595. 

Champagne (sham-pan'), count of, fiefs, 
58. 

Champagne, coimty of, 234. 

Charlemagne (shar'le-man), place in 
history, 27; wars, 27, 30; revives 
empire in the West, 30, 31 ; corona- 
tion of, 3 1 ; portrait, 3 2 ; govern- 
ment of, 33— 35 ; fosters education 
and arts, 36; old age and death, 38; 
appearance and character, 39 ; de- 
scendants of, 40-42. 

Charles IV, Emperor, 268. 

Charles V, Emperor, genealogy, 283 ; 
portrait, 327; dominions, 327; 
elected Emperor, 327; and Luther, 
328; wars with France, 332; wars 
with Turks, szi ', war with Protes- 
tants, 334; abdicates, 335. 

Charles VI, Emperor, 445. 

Charles of Anjou, king of Sicily, 126. 

Charles I, of England, 406-415; char- 
acter, 406 ; arbitrary government of, 
408; civil war, 412; execution of, 
4IS- 

Charles II, of England, 415, 419-421; 
foreign policy, 420, 389, 390. 

Charles IV, of France, 237. 



Charles V, the Wise, of France, 250. 

Charles VI, of France, 251-252. 

Charles VII, of France, 253—256, 263. 

Charles VIII, of France, 266. 

Charles IX, of France, 361. 

Charles X, of France, 573-575. 

Cha!rles II, of Spain, 391, 392. 

Charles XII, of Sweden, 434-436. 

Charles Albert, of Piedmont, 611. 

Charles Martel', 20, 21. 

Charles the Bald, 41 . 

Charles the Bold, duke of Burgundy, 
264. 

Charles the Fat, Emperor, 41, 46. 

Charter, Great, 218. 

Charter of Liberties, of Henry I of Eng- 
land, 212. 

Charters of towns, 177. 

Chateau Gaillard (sha-to' ga-yar'), 161, 
162 ; captured, 229. 

Chat'/jam, earl of, 455. 

Chemistry, 307, 470, 741. 

China, early history, 694; opening up 
of, 695, 715; war with Japan, 696; 
saved from dismemberrnent, 697 ; 
Boxer War, 698 ; relations with Rus- 
sia, 701, 702, 704; recent revolution 
in, 715-719- 

Chivalry, 163, 164. 

Christianity, and the Roman Empire, 
12 ; extent of territory in 800, 22, 23 ; 
factor in medieval civilization, 24 ; 
see Church, etc. 

Chronicles, 8. 

Chrysolo'ras, 306. 

Church, medieval, 79-97 ; power of, 
79-81 ; clergy, 81-96 ; sacraments, 
83 ; organization, 85 ; democracy of, 
92 ; monastic orders, 92-96 ; general 
summary, 96; restricts feudal war- 
fare, 63; and the universities, 193; 
in the tenth and eleventh centuries, 
103 ; investiture conflict, 104, 107- 
III ; Great Schism, 290-292; great 
church councils, 290-294 ; in the four- 
teenth and fifteenth centuries, 288; 
Reformation, 321—358; Counter Ref- 
ormation, 353-357 ; censorship of 
printing, 356; in French Revolution, 
492 ; in France, 522, 721 ; and modem 
education, 633 ; in Germany, 633 ; in 
Portugal, 724. 

Church councils, 91, 290-294. 

Church festivals, 85. 



lO 



INDEX 



Church law, 80, 82, 197. 

Cis-al'pine RepubUc, 517, 527. 

Cities, rise of, 174-176; charters of, 177; 
in Italy, 116-120, 176, 299-301 ; mod- 
ern governments, 747-748. 

City life, medieval, 174-185; influence 
of crusades, 156. 

Civil War, in England, 412. 

Civilization, origin of, i, 12; medieval, 
24, 25 ; Arabian, 134—136. 

Clarkson, Thomas, 645. 

Clement VII, Avignon Pope, 290, 292. 

Clergy, 81-96 ; regular, 92 ; education 
of, 188; in eighteenth century, 469. 

Cler'i-cis La'i-cos, 235. 

Clerks (clergy), 82. 

Clermont, Council of, 140. 

Clermont, Fulton's steamboat, 563. 

Clive, Robert, in India, 457. 

Clo'vis, king of the Franks, 19. 

Cluny, order of, 94. 

Cobden, Richard, 647. 

Code Napoleon (na-po-la-oN'), 523,548. 

Code of Justinian, 16. 

Col-ber^', finance minister, 386. 

Col'et, John, 317, 344. 

Coligny (co-len'ye), Gaspard de, 361, 
362. 

Co-l6^e', in Hanseatic League, 1 85 ; 
cathedral, 206; archbishop of, elec- 
tor, 268. 

Colonization, in America, 282, 387, 389, 
405, 664 ; in Asia, 389, 456, 668, 695, 
697, 700-701 ; in Africa, 389, 573, 666, 
681, 685-690 ; in Australia, 462, 665 ; 
see Enghsh Colonies, French Colonies, 
etc. 

Columbus, Christopher, 282. 

Column Vendome (vaN-dom'), 529, 593. 

Commerce, medieval, 182-185; influ- 
ence of crusades, 156. 

Conunittee of PubHc Safety, 504-509. 

Commons, House of, 224, 279; repre- 
sentation in, 641-645 ; payment of 
members, 729. 

Commonwealth, in England, 415. 

Communes, medieval, 177. 

Compass, mariner's, 309. 

Compurgation, trial by, 61. 

Concert of the Great Powers, 677. 

Concor'dat between papacy and France, 
522, 721. 

Concordat of Worms, in. 

Conde (coN-daO, prince of, 361. 



Condottiere (con-do t-tyar'a), in Renais- 
sance in Italy, 302. 

Confederation of the Rhine, 532. 

Confirmation, sacrament of, 83. 

Conrad II, Emperor, 102. 

Conrad III, Emperor, 149. 

Conservatives, in Great Britain, 644, 
648. 

Constance, Council of, 291—293. 

Constance, treaty of, 120. 

Con'stan-tlne the Great, Emperor, 13 ; 
forged Donation of, 90, 91. 

Constantinople, capital of Eastern Em- 
pire, 16; in eleventh century, 132, 
133 ; crusaders at, 142 ; sacked by 
crusaders, 152 ; Latin Empire of, 153 ; 
reconquered by Greeks, 153 ; taken 
by Turks, 154, 155, 285; Revolution 
of 1909 in, 712. 

Constitutional Charter, of France, 572. 

Consubstantiation, 341 . 

Consulate, French, 521. 

Continental System, Napoleon's, 532- 

534- 
Convention,, National, French, 498—511. 
Convention Parhament, of England, 

419. 
Cook, Captain James, 462. 
Copenhagen, bombarded by British, 

533- 
Coper'nicus, 308. 
Cor-day', Charlotte, 500. 
Cor-de-lJers' Club, 498. 
Cor'dova, Mohammedan center, 134, 

I3S- 
Corn Laws, in England, 646. 
Corneille (cor-na'y'), author, 399. 
Corsica, annexed to France, 514. 
Cossacks, 702. 
Costume, medieval, 167. 
Council of Blood, in Netherlands, 369. 
Councils, Church, 91, 290-294. 
Count Pal'atine, 268, 372, 391. 
Counter Reformation, 353-35?. 373- 
Countess Matilda of Tuscany, 106. 
Counts, Frankish, 34 ; in feudal system, 

57, S8. 
Coup d'etat (coo da-ta'), of Louis Na- 
poleon, 585. 
Courtrai (koor-tre'), battle of, 234. 
Courts, Enghsh, reformed by Henry II, 

214, 215. 
Cranmer, archbishop of Canterbury, 

345-347- 



INDEX 



II 



Crecy (kra-se'), battle of, 243-245. 

Crete, 680, 684. 

Cri-me'an War, 587-589. 

Crompton, Samuel, inventor, 556. 

CromweU, Oliver, member of Parlia- 
ment, 412; general, 413-416; Lord 
Protector, 416-417. 

Cromwell, Richard, 418. 

Crossbow, 243, 245. 

Crown colonies of Great Britain, 66g. 

Crusades, 138-158; causes of, 138; 
crusaders, 139, 140; First Crusade, 
140; conquests organized, 145 ; dura- 
tion of crusades, 148 ; Second Crusade, 
149 ; Third Crusade, 149 ; Fourth Cru- 
sade, 152; Children's Crusade, 154; 
the last crusades, 154; why the cru- 
sades ended, 155 ; results of the cru- 
sades, 155; Albigensian Cfusade, 199. 

Cuba, independent, 720; freed from 
yellow fever, 740. 

Culture of the Middle Ages, 188-208. 

Cumberland, duke of, 639. 

Cures (ku-ra'), 476. 

Curfew, 179. 

Custozza (koos-tod'za), battle of, 611. 

Cyprus, conquered by crusaders, 150; 
British possession, 678, 669. 

Czar, title, 433. 

Czechs (cheks), 604. 

Da-gwerre', inventor, 741. 

Damascus, Mohammedan center, 134. 

Dane 'law, 50, 51. 

Danes (Northmen), in England, 49-51, 

71. 
Dan'te, 304-306. 

Dan 'ton, 498, 499, 504; execution, 507. 
Danube River, 6, 589. 
Danzig (dan'tsiK), in Hanseatic League, 

185. 
Dark Age, defined, 9. 
Darwin, Charles, 737. 
Dau'phin, title of, 249. 
Dauphine (d5-fe-na'), 249. 
Declaration of Indulgence, by Charles 

II, 420. 
Declaration of the Rights of Man, 

French, 491. 
Decretals, papal, defined, 89 ; False 

Decretals, 90. 
Defender of the Faith, origin of title, 

344- 
De-foe', Daniel, author, 428. 



Delegations, in Austria-Hungary, 606. 

De-me.yne' of a lord, 169. 

Democracy, growth of, 565. 

Denmark, organized, 51; war with 
Hanseatic League, 185; Reforma- 
tion in, 358; in Thirty Years' War, 
373; war with Sweden (1700), 434; 
alliance with France (1807), 533 ; 
loses Norway, 543 ; loses Sleswick- 
Holstein, 624. 

Deputies on mission, French, 505, 506. 

De Rwy'tpr, Admiral, 390. 

Diaz (de'as), Bartholomew, 282. 

Di-dero^', author, 473. 

Digest of Justinian, 16. 

Diocese, defined, 87. 

Directory, French, 510, 511, 519-521. 

Disease, germ theory of, 739. 

Dispensations, papal, defined, 89. 

Dispensing power, of English kings, 420, 
422, 423. 

Disraeli (diz-ra'li), Benjamin, 648-650, 
644. 

Dissenters, in England, 420, 640. 

Divine right of kings, 384. 

Domestic system of industry, 555, 559. 

Dom'inic, Saint, 95. 

Domin'icans, 95, 200. 

Donation of Constantine, 90, 91. 

Drake, Sir Francis, 352. 

Drama, origin of, 85. 

Dresden (drez'den), battle of, 538. 

Dress, medieval, 167. 

Dreyfus (dra-fiis') AiJair, 597. 

Dual Alliance, 676. 

Duke, rank in feudal system, 58; in 
Germany, 99. 

Duma (doo'ma), 709, 710. 

Dunbar', battle of, 415. 

Dupleix (dii-plaO, French governor, 
456, 457. 

Duquesne (du-kan'). Fort, 455, 456. 

Dii'rer, artist, 313, 315, 32. 

Dutch, 366; see Holland. 

Dyeing, in the Middle Ages, 167. 

Dynamite, invented, 741. 

Earl, rank in feudal system, 58; in 

England, 74. 
East India Company, 456, 457, 669. 
East Roumelia (roo-me'li-a), 679. 
Eastern Church, 79. 
Eastern Empire, origin of, 13 ; under 

Justinian, 16; in 800, 23; in eleventh 



12 



INDEX 



century, 132; threatened by Turks, 
3:40; partly conquered by Venice, 
153; attacked by Turks, 155, 284; 
fall of the, 284. 

Eastern Question, 587, 677, 680, 685. 

Eck, Dr. John, 325. 

Economics, science of, 473. 

Ecumen'ical councils, 91. 

Edes'sa, crusaders' state, 145, 149. 

Ed'ison, Thomas A., inventor, 741. 

Education, medieval, 36, 188-194; 
modern public, 747. 

Edward I, of England, 219—220. 

Edward II, 221. 

Edward III, 221; claim to French 
throne, 237-238; war with France, 
241—245, 250; death of, 277. 

Edward IV, 280. 

Edward V, 280. 

Edward VI, 346. 

Edward VII, 653, 725, 728. 

Edward the Confessor, 71. 

Egbert, king of Wessex, 48. 

Eginhard (a'gin-hart), 39. 

Egypt, conquered by Mohammedans, 
18; attacked by crusaders, 154; 
Napoleon in, 518-520; British rule 
in, 680, 681, 668. 

Elba, annexed to France, 527 ; Napoleon 
at, 539- 

El'be River, 7. 

Eleanor of Aquitaine, 212. 

Electors (of the Empire), 268-269, 426. 

Electricity, 740—741. 

El'i-ot, Sir John, 409. 

Elizabeth, of England, 347-353. 

Elizabeth, of Russia, 437. 

Emigres (a-me-gra'), 490, 493, 494, 496. 

Emperor (and Empire) of the West, 30- 
33 ; revival under Otto I, 102 ; 
investiture conflict, 104, 107-111; 
struggle with papacy, 107-128; 
method of election, 114, 268; weak- 
ness, 238, 260, 379; constitution 
of the Empire defined, 268; Empire 
dissolved, 532; title cheapened by 
Napoleon, 525; see names of Em- 
perors. 

Ems dispatch, 627. 

Encyclopedia, French, 473, 

Enghien (aN-gaN'), duke of, 524. 

England, 'settled by Angles and Saxons, 
48 ; seven kingdoms of, 48 ; Danes 
(Northmen) in, 49-51, 44, 71 ; 



Norman conquest of, 71-76; early 
local government in, 73 ; feudal 
system in, 74; serfdom in, 169, 
273-276; cities in, 175; in the 
Middle Ages, 211-226; reforms of 
Henry II, 213-216; fief of papacy, 
122, 217; rise of Parliament, 221— 
226; local government in, 222; 
Hundred Years' War, 241 ; rise of 
modern state, 272— 281 ; Black Death 
in, 273 ; Peasants' Revolt in, 273- 
276 ; increase of Parliament's power, 
278; Wars of the Roses, 279—280; 
new monarchy of the Tudors, 280; 
Reformation in, 344-353, 358; dis- 
solution of the monasteries, 345 ; 
war with Spain (1588), 352; wars 
with Louis XIV, 388-395 ; war with 
Netherlands, 389-390; gains from 
War of Spanish Succession, 394; 
constitutional monarchy in (1603— 
1760), 403-427 ; union with Scotland, 
403, 426; colonies, 405, 456-458; 
civil war in, 412; Commonwealth, 
415; Restoration, 418-420; "Glori- 
ous Revolution" of 1688, 422-424; 
cabinet government, 425, 427 ; sum- 
mary of history in seventeenth 
century, 428; alliance with Prussia 
(1756), 448, 450 ; struggle with France 
(1740-1763), 454-458; in India, 
456-458; sea power of, 459; see 
also Great Britain, Parliament, etc. 

Enghsh Church, and EUzabeth, 348; 
Laudians and Puritans, 406, 408. 

English colonies, founded in America, 
405 ; annexed from Holland, 389 ; 
struggle with French, 394, 447, 454- 
458 ; in India, 456-457 ; American 
lost, 460-461 ; in Australia, 462, 
665 ; in South Africa, 665-668 ; in 
Egypt, 680, 668 ; in China, 695, 
697 ; British colonial empire, 661-671. 

English language, 76. 

Enghsh literature, 353, 427, 428, 654. 

EngHsh possessions in France, 212, 216, 
217, 229, 240, 250, 252, 256, 347. 

Enhghtened despots, 474. 

Epi'rus, added to Greece, 680. 

Equahty, principle of, 547. 

Erasmus (e-raz'mus), 317-319; atti- 
tude toward the Reformation, 331; 
in England, 344. 

Er'icson, Leif, 48. 



INDEX 



13 



Escheat, 56. 

Estates-General, French, 234, 263 ; 

meeting in lySg, 481, 485. 
Ktiquette, under Louis XIV, 399. 
Ei:i'cha.-nst, sacrament of, 84. 
Eugene of Savoy, 393. 
Eugene, viceroy of Italy, 530. 
Eugenie (u-zha-ne'), of France, 586, 

592- 
Euphrates (u-fra'tez) valley, 1, 11. 
Europe, historical importance of, i ; 

geography of, 1-7, 207 ; mountain 

systems of, 4; river systems of, 6; 

geographical units of, 7 ; in the 

year 800, 22. 
Evesham (evz'am), battle of, 219. 
Evolution, theory of, 737. 
Ex'arcAate of Ravenna, 18. 
Ex-cheq'Mer, English, 213. 
Excommunication, 80. 
Extreme unction, sacrament of, 84, 83. 
Eylau (I'lou), battle of, 529. 

Fabliaux (fa-ble-6'), 201. 

Factory Act, in England, 646. 

Factory system, SS9, 560. 

Fairs, medieval, 183 ; modern world's 
fairs, 587. 

Falconry (faw'conry), 166. 

Falkland (fawk'land) Islands, British 
possession, 669. 

False Decretals, 90. 

Farming of taxes, 387. 

Fa-sho'da incident, 689. 

Faubourgs (fo-boor'), 178. 

Fa'vre, Jules (zhiil), 592. 

Fawkes, Guy, 404. 

Fe'alty, SS, 60. 

Ferdinand I, Emperor, 335. 

Ferdinand II, Emperor, 372, 373, 375. 

Ferdinand, of Aragon, 281-284, 295 ; 
conquests, 266, 362. 

Ferdinand, of Austria, 605. 

Ferdinand VII, of Spain, 569, 570. 

Feudal government, 59-66. 

Feudal obligations, 60. 

Feudal system, 55-66 ; origins, 53 ; 
vassalage, 55; benefice holding, 55; 
governmental rights under, 57 ; as a 
working system, 58; ranks in, 58; 
feudal obligations, 60; courts and 
modes of trial, 61; warfare, 62; ad- 
vantages and disadvantages of, 64; 
duration of, 64; causes of its decline, 



68; in England, 74 ; in Palestine, 145 ; 
influenced by crusades, 157. 

Feudal system, Japanese, 695. 

Feudal warfare, 62. 

Mef, SS, S6. 

P'ield of May, 35. 

Fielding, Henry, author, 428. 

Finland, 533, 543, 709. 

Finns, in 800, 23. 

Fiske, John, opinion of evolution, 739. 

Fist-right, 64, 127. 

Flanders, attacked by Philip IV, 233, 
234 ; alliance with England, 241 ; 
held by duke of Burgundy, 264; in 
Empire, 266; part of Netherlands, 
366 ; see Netherlands. 

Florence, Savonarola in, 295 ; in the 
time of the Renaissance, 299-301, 313. 

Florida, ceded to England, 458; re- 
stored to Spain, 461. 

Flushing, capture of, 370. 

FoN-te-nay', battle of, 40. 

Food, in Middle Ages, 168, 185. 

Formo'sa, 696, 697. 

Fox, Charles James, opinion of French 
Revolution, 501. 

France, part of Carolingian Empire, 41 ; 
raided by Northmen, 44-46; feudal 
system in, 64, 272, 491 ; influence of 
crusades, 157; serfdom in, 169; cities, 
174, 176; heresy in, 198-200; cul- 
ture in southern France, 199; growth 
of royal domain, 227—228, 230, 240, 
264, 265 ; in the Middle Ages, 227- 
238 ; under Louis IX, 233 ; Estates- 
General, 234, 263, 481, 485; under 
Philip IV, 234, 236 ; Valois kings, 237 ; 
art and learning, 238; Hundred 
Years' War, 241-256; Black Death 
in, 246; development of modern 
state, 262-266; invasion of Italy, 
266 ; Reformation in, 358, 360-365 ; 
Huguenot Wars, 361-365 ; subjection 
of the nobility, 365 ; in Thirty Years' 
War, 376; under Louis XIV, 382- 
400 ; colonies, 388, 4,54 ; wars of 
Louis XIV, 388-395 ; life under 
Louis XIV, 397-400 ; sets fashions for 
Europe, 400; in War of Austrian 
Succession, 445-447 ; alliance with 
Austria (1756), 448; in Seven Years' 
War, 448-450; under Louis XV, 453. 
477; struggle with England (1740- 
1763), 4S4-4S8; sea power of, 459; 



14 . 



INDEX 



war with Great Britain (177 8- 1782), 
461 ; on the eve of the French Revo- 
lution, 467, 476-481 ; misgovernment 
under Louis XV, 477 ; Revolution of 
1789-179S, 485-510; Directory, 510, 
511, 519-521; under Napoleon, 521- 
541; in 1815, 543-546; restored 
Bourbons in, 572; in Revolution of 
1830, 574; from 1830 to 1900, 578- 
598; in Revolution-of 1848, 581-583; 
in Franco-Prussian War, 592, 626— 
630 ; present constitution, 595 ; after 
1871, 675; in Dual Alliance, 676; in 
Triple Entente, 676; in Concert of 
Great Powers, 677; possessions in 
Africa, 690; in Indo-China, 695; in 
China, 697 ; separation of church and 
state, 721 ; socialism in, 582, 583, 597, 
750 ; see also French, and names of 
rulers. 

Franche Comte (fraNsh-koN-ta'), held by- 
duke of Burgundy, 264; added to 
France, 390. 

Franchise, extension of, 744. 

Francis I, of France, 360, 327 ; war with 
Charles V, 332. 

Francis I, Emperor, 447. 

Francis II, Emperor, 521, 528; becomes 
Francis I of Austria, 532. 

Francis, Saint, 95. 

Francis Joseph, of Austria, 605, 607. 

Francis Xavier (zav'i-er). Saint, 355. 

Francis'cans, 95, 200. 

Franco'nia, stem duchy, 99. 

Franconian Emperors, 100. 

Franco-Prussian War, 592, 626-630. 

Frankfort, added to Prussia, 625. 

Frankfort Parliament, in Germany, 622, 
623. 

Franks, rise of, 19-21 ; alliance with the 
papacy, 21. 

"Franks," name of crusaders, 142. 

Frederick I, Barbarossa, Emperor, 114, 
116— 121; crusades of, 149. 

Frederick II, Emperor, 122-126; in 
crusade, 154. 

Frederick III, Emperor, 269. 

Frederick I, king of Prussia, 439. 

Frederick II, the Great, of Prussia, 444- 
453 ; wars of, 445-450 ; in peace, 450- 
452; government of, 452; an "en- 
lightened despot," 474. 

Frederick the Wise, of Saxony, 327, 
328. 



Frederick William, of Prussia, the 
"Great Elector," 438-439. 

Frederick William I, king of Prussia, 
439-441, 444. 

Frederick William III, of Prussia, 528, 
538. 

Frederick William IV, of Prussia, 622. 

Free trade, 473 ; in England, 646. 

French Academy, 399. 

French colonies, in America, 387 ; 
struggle with EngHsh, 394, 447, 454- 
458 ; in India, 456-457 ; Napoleon's 
plans, 527 ; in Algeria, 573 ; in 
Africa, 681, 689-690; in Asia, 695, 697. 

French literature, 201, 399, 598. 

French Revolution, character and causes 
of, 467—481 ; meeting of the Estates- 
General, 485 ; beginning of the revo- 
lution, 488; constitution of 1791, 
492 ; wars with foreign countries, 
496-498, 500, 502, 505, 509, 510; a 
republic established, 499 ; Reign of 
Terror, 505—509 ; review of, 511 ; per- 
manent results of, 547—548. 

French Revolution of 1830, 574. 

French Revolution of 1848, 581-583. 

Frescoes, 310. 

Friars, 95. 

Friedland (fret'lant), battle of, 529. 

Frois'sart's Chronicles, 242. 

Ful'ton, Robert, inventor, 563. 

GaUcia (ga-lish'i-a), reforms of Joseph 
11, 475. 

Gal-i-le'o, 308. 

Ga'ma, Vasco da, 282. 

Gambet'ta, Leon, 592, 629. 

Ga-ri-bal'di, 608, 609, 611, 614, 615. 

Ga-ron»e' River, 7. 

Gas engine, 742. 

Gaul, invaded by German tribes, 15; 
conquered by Franks, 15, 19. 

Genealogical Tables, see the list on 
page xiii. 

General council of the church, 91, 290- 
294. 

General strike, 709. 

Ge-ne'va, Reformation at, 342. 

Genoa, trade with Palestine, 146; 
commercial center, 156, 182, 183. 

Geographical basis of European his- 
tory, I. 

George I, of Great Britain, 427. 

George II, 427, 455. 



INDEX 



15 



George III, in Seven Years' War, 450, 
458 ; personal rule, 458, 460, 461 ; 
descendants, 63g. 

George IV, 639, 640. 

George V, 725. 

George, Lloyd, 726, 727, 730, 747. 

Germ theory of disease, 739. 

German colonies, 688-689, 697. 

German Confederation of 1815, 543, 620. 

German Empire (of 1871), 630-636; 
constitution of, 630; industrial 
growth, 634; armed peace, 675; in 
Triple Alliance, 676; in Concert of 
Great Powers, 677 ; African colonies, 
688-689 ; in China, 697 ; recent 
rivalry with Great Britain, 731 ; 
socialism in, 633, 635-636, 750. 

German Uterature, early, 201 ; rise of 
modern, 452, 329. 

German tribes, invade Roman Empire, 
13, 24 ; character of, 24 ; idea of 
law, 33; invasions of the Northmen, 
44-51- 

Germans, in Austrian Empire, 603-605. 

Germany, part of Carolingian Empire, 
41; raided by Northmen, 44; 
stem duchies in, 99; invaded by 
Hungarians, 99, loi ; Saxon kings 
of, 100; expansion northeastward, 
loi ; in Holy Roman Empire, 102 ; 
SaUan Emperors of, 102, 100; under 
Henry IV (investiture conflict), 
107— in; Hohenstaufen rulers of, 
113, 115; under Frederick I, 121; 
subdivided, 121, 124, 238, 379, 469; 
under Frederick II, 124; Great 
Interregnum in, 126; influenced by 
crusades, 157; serfdom in, 169; 
Hanseatic League, 185; rise of the 
Hapsburgs, 267-270; constitution of 
Empire, 268-269; Reformation in, 
321-336, 358; Peasants' Revolt 
in, 330-331 ; Thirty Years' War, 
372-378; subdivision of, 379, 469; 
reorganized by Napoleon, 531 ; in 
1813-1815, S37-S3Q, 542-543; after 
181S, 569; in 1815-1905, 620-636; 
unification of, 620-630; see German 
Empire; also Austria, Prussia, Ba- 
varia, etc. 

Ghibelline (gifb'el-in) party, 115, 116, 
126. 

Gibbon (gib'bon), Edward, author, 428. 

Gibraltar, British possession, 394, 669. 



Giotto (jot'to), 310, 311, 315. 

Girondists (ji-ron'dists), 495, 498- 
503 ; fall of, 503, 506. 

Glad'stone, William E., 648-654, 644; 
opinion of colonies, 670. 

Godfrey of Bouillon (boo-yoN'), cru- 
sader, 141, 145. 

Goethe, author, 453. 

Golden Bull, 268. 

Good Parliament, of England, 278. 

Gordon, General, 681. 

Gothic style of architecture, 203- 
207. 

Goths, see Ostrogoths, Visigoths. 

Government, feudal, 59-66, 260-261 ; 
modern, 260-262 ; fall of absolute 
government in twentieth century, 
707 ; extended functions of modern 
government, 747. 

Gra-na'da, Mohammedan kingdom in 
Spain, 281. 

Grand Alhance, 567, 568, 570-571. 

Grand Remonstrance, 411. 

GraN-soN', battle of, 265. 

Grave-lotfe', battle of, 629. 

Great Britain, kingdom of, 426 ; in War 
of the Austrian Succession, 447 ; 
struggle with France (i 740-1 763), 
454-458; revolt of the colonies 
in America, 460; wars with France 
and Napoleon, 502, 517-520, 522, 
527-529, 532-535, 540-541, 546; 
gains in 1815, 543; public debt of, 
546; sea power, 546; Industrial 
Revolution in, 550-563 ; canals and 
railroads, 561 ; in Crimean War, 587- 
589 ; in the nineteenth century, 638- 
675; constitution, 655-661; colo- 
nial empire, 661-671 ; in Triple 
Entente, 676; in Concert of Great 
Powers, 677; in Egypt, 680, 668; 
possessions in Africa, 689 ; in China, 
695; in Persia, 715; recent changes 
in, 725-732; recent rivalry with 
Germany, 731 ; socialism in, 750. 

Great Charter, of England, 218. 

Great Commoner, 455. 

Great Council, of England, 221. 

Great Elector, 438. 

Great Interregnum, in Germany, 126. 

Great Powers, 677. 

Great St. Bernard Pass, 5. 

Great Schism (sizm) in the Church, 
290-292. 



i6 



INDEX 



Greece, ancient history, 12 ; independent 
of Turkey, 571-572; enlarged (1878), 
680; war with Turkey (1897), 6§o; 
war with Turkey (1912-1913), 682- 
685. 

Greek Church, 79. 

Greek Empire, 69; see Eastern Empire. 

Greek fire, 13,5. 

Greek language, study of, 306. 

Greenland, settled by Northmen, 48. 

Gregory VII, Pope, 105-1 11. 

Gregory XIII, 354. 

Gregory the Great, Pope, 18. 

Grey, Lady Jane, 347. 

Grotius (gro'shi-us), author, 396. 

Guelf (gwelf) party, 115, 116, 126. 

Guesclin, Bertrand du (ber-traN' dii ge- 
klaN'), 251. 

Guienne (ge-en'), English possession in 
France, 238. 

Guilds, 175, 179, 182; oppressive regu- 
lations in eighteenth century, 468, 
480 ; abolished in France, 492. 

Guillotine (pl'o-ten), 501, 506. 

Guiscard (ges-car'), Robert, 69. 

Guise (gii-ez'), house of, 361, 362. 

Guizot (ge-z6'), 579-581. 

Gunpowder, 196, 244, 307. 

Gunpowder Plot, 404. 

Gusta'vus Adolphus, king of Sweden, 
374- 

Gutenberg (goo'ten-berK), John, 316. 

Haakon (haw'kon) VII, of Norway, 
723- 

Ha'beas Cor'pus Act, in England, 421. 

Hague Peace Conferences, 732. 

Hals, Frans, artist, 313, 315. 

Hamburg, in Hanseatic League, 185; 
in German Empire, 631. 

Hampden, John, 409, 413. 

Han'over, 121, 426; crown united with 
England's, 427 ; acquires Swedish ter- 
ritory, 436; in War of the Austrian 
Succession, 447 ; separated from the 
British crown, 639 ; added to Prussia, 
625. 

Hanove'rian kings of Great Britain, 427. 

Han-se-at'ic League, 184; broken up, 
378. 

Hapsburg house, rise of, 267-270; and 
Switzerland, 271 ; possessions of 
Charles V, 327; division of, 336. 

Har'greaves, James, inventor, 555. 



Harold, king of England, 71-73. 

Harvey, William, scientist, 424. 

Hastings, battle of, 72. 

Hastings, Warren, 458. 

Havana, restored to Spain, 458. 

Hebert (a-bar'), 507. 

Hel-vet'ic Republic, 520. 

Henry III, Emperor, 103, 104, 106. 

Henry IV, Emperor, 106— iii; contest 
with the Pope, 108-111. 

Henry V, Emperor, iii, 113. 

Henry VI, Emperor, 122. 

Henry I, of England, 211, 212. 

Henry II, of England, 212-216, 351. 

Henry III, of England, 219. 

Henry IV, of England, 278. 

Henry V, of England, 251-253. 

Henry VI, of England, 253, 256, 280. 

Henry VII, of England, 280, 343. 

Henry VIII, of England, 280, 343-346. 

Henry II, of France, 361, 334. 

Henry III, of France, 362. 

Henry IV, of Navarre, king of France, 
362-364. 

Henry the Lion, 1 20. 

Henry the Navigator, 282. 

Her-at', 700. 

Heresy, defined, 16; in twelfth and 
thirteenth centuries, 198. 

Hertz, scientist, 741. 

Herzegovina (her-tse-go-ve'na), ac- 
quired by Austria, 678. 

Hesse-Cas'sel, added to Prussia, 625. 

Hesse-Darmstadt (darm'shtat), 626. 

High Commission, Court of, 408, 410. 

Hil'debrand, 105 ; Pope Gregory VII, 
107-111. 

History, sources of, 7 ; periods of, 8 ; 
short duration of, 10. 

Hohenstaufen (ho'en-stou-fen) Em- 
perors, 1 13-128; fall of, 126. 

HohenzoUern (ho-en-tsol'ern), house of, 
437, 627. 

Hol'bein, 313, 315, 317. 

Holland (Netherlands or Dutch Nether- 
lands), separate country, 371-372, 378, 
379 ; wars with Louis XIV, 388-395 ; 
prosperity and colonies of, 389; war 
with England, 389-390; conquered 
by France, 509 ; Louis Bonaparte, king 
of, 530; enlarged to Netherlands, in 
181S, 543; loss of Belgium, 575-576; 
loss of Cape Colony, 666 ; see 
Netherlands. 



INDEX 



17 



Holy Alliance, 568. 

Holy Eucharist, sacrament of, 84. 

Holy Roman Empire, 102 ; weakness 
of, 260; dissolved, 532; see Emperor, 
Germany. 

Hom'age, ceremony of, 55, 60. 

Home Rule, Irish, 651, 652, 729. 

Hong'kong', ceded to Great Britain, 695, 
697. 

Hos'pitalers, 146, 518. 

Hotel des Invalides (o-tel' da zaN-va- 
led'), 386. 

House of Commons, English, 224; see 
Commons. 

House of Lords, English, 224 ; see Lords. 

Hubertsburg (hoo'berts-booro), peace 
of, 4SO. 

Hugh Ca-pe/', 41, 227. 

Hu'gwe-nots, 360-365, 395, 396. 

Humanism, 303—307, 317. 

Hum'bert I, of Italy, 617. 

Hundred, in England, 73. 

" Hundred Days" of Napoleon, 540, 543. 

Hundred Years' War, 241-256. 

Hunga'rians, invade Germany, 99, loi. 

Hun'gary, kingdom formed, loi ; sub- 
ject to Empire, 103 ; acquired by 
Hapsburgs, 270; joined to Austria, 
335-336; after 1867, 606; Revolu- 
tion of 1848, 604, 605 ; reforms of 
Joseph II, 475. 

Hims, invade Gaul, 15. 

Hus, John, 292. 

Hutten (hoot'ten), Ulrich von (ool'riK 
fon), 317. 

Iceland, settled by Northmen, 48. 

Iconoclas'tic controversy, 19. 

Impeachment, 278. 

Imperial Federation, British, 670. 

Independents, in England, 414, 416. 

India, growth of British power in, 456- 
458; war in (i 741-1748), 447, 
(1755-1763), 454-458, (1857), 669; 
Napoleon threatens, 518; govern- 
ment of, 668, 669 ; Russia threatens, 
700. 

Indian Mutiny of 1857, 669. 

Indies, defined, 392. 

Indulgences, 323-324. 

Industrial Revolution in Great Britain, 
550-565 ; in other coimtries, 567, 580, 
634; effects of, 563, 582, 638, 744. 

Initiative, 745, 746. 



Innocent III, Pope, relations with Em- 
pire, 122; call's Fourth Crusade, 152; 
calls y\lbigensian Crusade, 199; con- 
flict with King John of England, 217. 

Innsbruck (ins'brook), Charles V at, 334. 

Inquisition, 200; in Spain, 295, 356, 
379; in Counter Reformation, 356; 
in Netherlands, 368. 

Institutes oi Jvis,tmia,n, 16. 

Instrument of Government, English, 416. 

Insurance for laborers, 633, 725, 748. 

Intend' ants, French, 366, 385. 

Interdict, 81. 

International Law, 396, 590, 733. 

Inventions, 550, 553-559, 740-743- 

Investiture conflict, in Germany, 104, 
107-111. 

Ireland, English rule in, 351—352; 
Reformation in, 351—352; rebellion 
of (1641), 411, 413; conquered by 
Cromwell, 415 : conquered by William 
III, 424 ; famine in, 647 ; Church 
disestabhshed, 649; Land Acts, 650- 
653; imion with Great Britain, 651; 
Home Rule in, 651-652, 729 ; progress 
in the nineteenth century, 653—654. 

I-re'ne, Eastern Empress, 30. 

Irish Church, disestablished, 649. 

Irish Land Acts, 650-653. 

Iron-making, improvements in, 559. 

"Ironsides," Cromwell's, 413. 

Isabella of Castile, 281-284, 295. 

Isabella of England, 237. 

Isabella of France, 252. 

ItaUan Hterature, 304—307. 

Italian Republic, 527, 530. 

Italy, part of Roman Empire, 12 ; Visi- 
goths in, 15; Ostrogoths in, 15; 
Lombards in, 18, 19, 21, 30; part of 
CaroUngian Empire, 41 ; Moham- 
medans in, 69 ; Norman conquests in, 
69; disorders in the tenth century, 
loi ; in Holy Roman Empire, 102 ; 
papal power increased, 106; under 
Frederick I, 11 6-1 20; rise of cities in, 
116— 120, 174, 176; French in, 266, 
332; Spanish possessions in, 283, 299; 
in the time of the Renaissance, 299- 
302 ; Italian despots of Renaissance, 
302; Renaissance in, 302-313, 316; 
war of Charles V and Francis I, 332 ; 
Austrian power in, 394-395, 53°, 57°, 
576, 607-608, 610-616; Napoleon in, 
516, 521, 527, 530, 607; Cisalpine 



i8 



INDEX 



Republic, 517, 527; Italian Republic, 
527, 530; in 181S, 542-543; revolts 
of 1820, 570; revolts of 1830, 608; dis- 
union after 1815, 607-611 ; revolution 
of 1848, 610; unification of, 611— 618; 
since 1870, 617-618; present con- 
stitution of, 617; in Triple Alliance, 
676; in Concert of Great Powers, 
677 ; seizes Tripoli, 681 ; other pos- 
sessions in Africa, 617, 689. 

Jac'o-bin Club, 495-498, 509. 

Jac'o-bite risings, in England, 427. 

Jacquerie (zhak-re'), 249. 

James I, of England, 403-406. 

James II (duke of York), 421-424. 

Jan'izaries, 284, 285. 

Japan, awakening of, 695 ; war with 
China, 696; in Boxer War (China), 
698; war with Russia, 702-704. 

Jeffreys, Judge, 421. 

Jena (ya'na), battle of, 528. 

Jen'gAiz Khan (Kan), 694. 

Je-rome' of Prague, 292. 

Jerusalem, taken by crusaders, 144; 
crusaders' state, 145, 149; taken by 
Saladin, 149; taken by Frederick 
II, 154; retaken by Turks, 154. 

Jesuits (jez'u-its), 3S4-3S6, 633. 

Jews, in France, 597 ; in Great Britain, 
640. 

Joan of Arc, 253-256. 

John, of England, 216-219. 

John, of France, 247-250. 

John XXIII, Pope, 291, 292. 

Johnson, Dr. Samuel, 428. 

Jonson, Ben, 353. 

Joseph II, Emperor, 450; reforms of, 
475- 

Josephine of France, 535. 

Journeymen, in guilds, 182. 

Jura (joo'ra) Mountains, 6. 

Jury, trial by, 214. 

Justification by faith, Lutheran doc- 
trine, 323. 

Justin'ian, Emperor, 16. 

Jutes (jootz), invade Britain, 48. 

Kamerun (ka-ma-roon'), 688. 

Kant, Immanuel, philosopher, 453. 

Keep, of a castle, 160. 

Khartum (kar-toomO, taken by the 

Mahdi, 681. 
KAe-diVe', 668, 680, 681. 



Khiva (Ke'va), 700. 

Kiauchau (kyou'chou'), 697. 

Kim'berley, 666. 

King, in feudal system, 57-58, 60, 65 ; 
method of sejection in different 
countries, 114; in France, 227, 228, 
263, 272, 385; in England, 272, 280, 
403-427, 655; in Poland, 462; di- 
vine right of kings, 384. 

Kitch'ener, General, in the Sudan, 681. 

Knighthood, medieval, 163-165. 

Knights Hos'pitalers of Saint John, 
146, 518. 

Knights of the shire, in England, 223. 

Knights Templars, 146. 

Knights, Teutonic, 146, 437. 

Knox, John, 350. 

Kon'go River, 685-688. 

Kongo State, 687. 

Koniggratz (ku-niK-grets'), buttle of, 
625. 

Ko-ran', 17. 

Ko-re'a, 696, 702-704. 

K6s-ci-us'ko, Polish patriot, 464. 

Kossuth (kosh'oot), Louis, 604, 605. 

Kulturkampf (kool-toor'kampf), 633. 

Kunersdorf (koo'ners-dorf), battle of, 
449- • 

Kushk (kooshk), 700. 

Laborers, in Middle Ages, 58, 169-174, 
182, 273-276; effect of factory sys- 
tem, 564, 565, 646 ; in France, 582 ; 
in Germany, 633 ; in Great Britain, 
646, 725; war on poverty, 748; so- 
cialist theory of, 749-750. 

La-fa-yetfe', Marquis de, in French 
Revolution, 481, 490, 494, 498; in 
Revolution of 1830, 574, 575. 

La Hogue (og), battle of, 391. 

Laissez faire (le'sa far') doctrine, 473, 
746, 747- 

Laity, 81. 

Lancastrian kings of England, 278. 

Land tenure, feudal, 55-57. 

Landfrieden (lant'f re-den), 64. 

LaRochelle (ro-shel'), 364, 365. 

La Salfe', 387. 

Latin Church, 79; see Church, Pope. 

Latin Empire of Constantinople, 153. 

Laud, William, 406, 408-410. 

Lavoisier (la-vwa-zya'), chemist, 470. 

Law, development of, 16, 33, 196-197, 
523; international, 396, 590, 733. 



INDEX 



19 



Law, John, 453. 

Lawyers, rise of, igy. 

LecA, battle of, loi. 

Legion of Honor, 523. 

Legislative Assembly, in French Revo- 
lution, 495, 497. 

Legit'imists, in France, 594, 595. 

Legnano (la-nya'no), battle of, 119. 

Leipzig (hp'sik), medieval fair at, 184; 
battle of, 538. 

Leo III, Pope, 31. 

Leo X, Pope, 294, 325. 

Leon (la-6n'), Spanish state, 281. 

Leonardo (la-o-nar'do) da Vinci (ven'- 
che), 315. 

Le'opold II, of Belgium, 687. 

Les'sing, author, 452. 

Lettres de cachet (let'tr' de ca-sha'), 
385-386, 477. 

Leuthen (loi'ten), battle of, 449. 

Ley'den, siege of, 370. 

Liao-tong (le-ou'tong') peninsula, 703. 

Liaoyang (le-ou'yang'), battle of, 703. 

Liberal arts, 188. 

Liberal Unionist party in Great Britain, 
651-652. 

Liberalism, spread of, 567-569; in 
France, 591, 597; in Austria-Hun- 
gary, 603-605; in Italy, 610-613; 
in Great Britain, 642-644 ; fall of 
absolute government, in 20th cen- 
tury, 707 ; recent reforms, 744-750. 

Liberals, in England, 644, 648; spUt, 
651; recent reforms, 725— 731. 

Lib'erum Veto, 463. 

Lib'-y-a, 682. 

Life, French, under Louis XIV, 397—400. 

Life in the Middle Ages, 160-185; 
influenced by crusades, 157; hfe 
of the nobles, 160-168; hfe of the 
peasants, 167—174; hfe in towns, 
174—185 ; intellectual hfe, 188-207, 
303 ; general summary, 207—208. 

Ligny (len-ye'), battle of, 540. 

Li Hung Chang, 696. 

Lil/e, manufacturing town, 367. 

Lisbon (liz'bon), recent revolution in, 
724. 

Literature, in Charlemagne's time, 36; 
rise of vernacular literatures, 200-201 ; 
Arabian, 135 ; Enghsh, 353, 427, 428, 
654; French, 201, 399,598; German, 
201, 329, 452; ItaUan, 304-307; 
Spanish, 380. 



Liv'ing-stone, Dr. David, 687. 

Ltoyd George, 726, 727, 730, 747. 

Locke, John, philosopher, 470. 

Locomotive engine, invented, 561. 

Lo'di, battle of, 516. 

Loire (Iwar) River, 7. 

Lombard League, 119, 120. 

Lombards, occupy Italy, 18, 19, 21 ; con- 
quered by Charlemagne, 30. 
■ Lom'bardy, named, 18; cities in, 119, 
120; in the time of the Renaissance, 
299, 301, 302 ; under Austria, 607, 
611; annexed to Piedmont, 615. 

London, fortified by Alfred, 50 ; station 
of Hanseatic League, 1 85 ; in Peas- 
ants' Revolt, 274; plague and fire 
in, 421. 

London, peace of (1913), 684. 

Long Parliament, 409-416, 418-419. 

Longbow, 243, 245. 

Looms, 556. 

Lope de Vega (lo'pa da va'ga), 380. 

Lords, feudal, 55-57, 60, 163-169, 
175-176. 

Lords, House of, Enghsh, 224; 
threatened creation of new peers, 
643 ; decrease of power, 727, 728. 

Lord's Supper, sacrament of, 84. 

Loren'zo the Magnificent, 301. 

Lor-ram', Claude, artist, 315. 

Lorraine, stem duchy, 99 ; added to 
France, 454 ; ceded to Germany, 630. 

Lor-riV, charter of, 177. 

Lo-thair', Emperor, 41. 

Lotharin'gia, stem duchy, 99. 

Louis (loo'is or loo'i) VI, of France, 
227-228. 

Louis VII, 227, 149. 

Louis IX (Saint Louis), 232; in cru- 
sades, 154. 

Louis X, 237. 

Louis XI, 263-265. 

Louis Xn, 360.. 

Louis XIII, 364. 

Louis XIV, 382-400; as king, 384; 
wars of, 388; suppression of Hugue- 
nots, 395 ; death of, 395 ; court at 
Versailles, 397—400. 

Louis XV, 453, 449; misgovemment 
under, 477. 

Louis XVI, 479, 487-494, 497 ; exe- 
cuted, 501. 

Louis XVIII, 53Q, 540, 542. 543 ; Con- 
stitutional Charter of, 572. 



20 



INDEX 



Louis Napoleon, 584-592. 

Louis Phi-lip^c', 575, 578-582. 

Louis the German, 40. 

Louis the Pious, Emperor, 40. 

Louisiana, 458, 527. 

Louvre (loo'vr'), 594. 

Loyo'la, Ignatius, 354. 

Lii'beck, in Hanseatic League, 185; 
in German Empire, 631. 

Lu-jerne', Swiss city, 272. 

Luneville (lii-na-vel'), peace of, 522. 

Luther, Martin, 322-334; teachings 
of, 325—326, 330; excommunicated, 
326; at Worms, 327-328; trans- 
lates the Bible, 329; marriage, 331; 
controversy with Zwingli, 341. 

Lu'theran Church, 330. 

Liit'zen, battle of, 375. 

Lux'emburg, house of, 268-269. 

Ly'ons, insurrection at, 580. 

Lyons, Council of, 125. 

Macad'amizefl roads, 553. 

Macaulay (ma-caw'ly), Thomas Bab- 
ington, 654; quoted, 348, 642. 

Macedo'nia, 680, 682. 

Machiavelli (ma-kya-vel'Ie), 299, 302. 

MacMa-Aow', Marshal, 629, 595. 

Madagas'car, 690. 

Madras', English at, 456. 

Magdeburg (mag'de-booro), archbishop- 
ric of, loi ; sacked by Catholics, 374. 

Ma-gen'ta, battle of, 614. 

Mag'na Car'ta, 218. 

Magyars (mod'yorz), 99; see Hun- 
garians. 

Ma^'di, 681. 

MaiN-te-noN', Madame de, 395. 

Mainz (mints), archbishop of, 88; 
elector, 268. 

Malta (mawl'ta), taken by Napoleon, 
518; restored, 522; British, 543, 669. 

Man in the Iron Mask, 385. 

Manchuria (man-choo'ri-a), 697, 701, 
702. 

Manchus (man-chooz') , in China, de- 
throned, 716—718. 

Manil'a, restored to Spain, 458. 

Manor, medieval, 173. 

Man'tua, taken by Napoleon, 516. 

Man'uel II, king of Portugal, 723-724. 

Manufactures, Mohammedan, 135 ; in- 
fluence of crusades, 156; medieval 
European, 179; in Netherlands, 367; 



in France, 387, 468, 586; in Prussia, 
451 ; in Great Britain, 553-560, 638; 
in Germany, 634, 635 ; Industrial 
Revolution, 553-5-60. 

Ma-ra/', 499, 500. 

Marcel', Stephen, 249. 

Mar-co'ni, inventor, 741. 

Ma-ren'go, battle of, 521. 

Maria Louisa, Empress of France, 535. 

Maria The-ie'sa., of Austria, 445-450. 

Marie Antoinette (a,N-twa-net'), 479, 
480, 493; executed, 506. 

Mariner's compass, 309. 

Marl'bo-rougA, duke of, 393. 

Miir'lowe, Christopher, English drama- 
tist, 353. 

Marquis (mar'kwis), rank in feudal sys- 
tem, 58. 

Marseillaise (mar-sa-yez'), 497. 

Marsiglio (mar-sel'ye-o), of Padua, 289. 

Marston Moor, battle of, 413. 

Martin V, Pope, 292. 

Marx, Karl, 749. 

Mary of Burgundy, 265, 270. 

Mary (Tudor), queen of England, 347. 

Mary II, of England, 422-426. 

Mary Queen of Scots, 349-351. 

Mass, church service, 84. 

Matilda, countess of Tuscany, 106, no. 

Matilda, of England, 212. 

Matrimony, sacrament of, 84, 83. 

Maximilian of Austria, 265, 270. 

Maximilian, Emperor of Mexico, 590. 

Maximum, Law of the, 506, 509. 

May Field, Charlemagne's, 35. 

Mayors of the Palace, 19. 

Mazarin (ma-za-raN'), Cardinal, 383. 

Mazzini (mat-se'ne), 608, 611. 

Medici (med'e-che) family, 301. 

Medici, Catherine de', queen of France, 
361. 

Mediterranean Sea, 1-4. 

Me-lancA'thon, Philip, 330, 333. 

Mendicant orders, 95, 200. 

Merca'tor's projection, 308. 

Merchants, in the Middle Ages, 184. 

Merovin'gian kings, 19, 21. 

Messf'na earthquake, 617. 

Metternich (met'ter-niK), Prince, 567- 
573, 601, 603. 

Metz, 629, 630. 

Meuse (muz) River, 6. 

Mexico, French in, 590. 

Mi-cAel-an'ge-lo, 311, 315. 



INDEX 



21 



Middle Ages, defined, 9; beginning of 
the, 13; general character of, 207. 

Mi-ka'do, 695. 

Mil 'an, revolts against Frederick I, 116- 
1 20 ; despots of, 302 ; war of Charles V 
and Francis I in, 332; acquired by 
Austria, 394; Napoleon in, 516, 
517- 

Milan decree, 532. 

Military usages and methods, influence 
of crusades, 156; in battle of Crecy, 
243, 244; in Thirty Years' War, 373— 
375 ; under Louis XIV, 386 ; modern, 
675- 

Milton, John, 420; quoted, 417. 

Min'nesingers, 201. 

Minor'ca, 394. 

Mirabeau (me-ra-bo'), Coimt, 488, 
493, 494- 

Mis' si domin'ici, 34. 

Mississippi Bubble, 453. 

Modena (mo'da-na), 607, 615. 

Moham'med, 17. 

Mohammed II, of Turkey, 285. 

Mohammed V, 712, 713. 

Moham'medanism, rise of, 17; in 
800, 2 2 ; Mohammedan world in 
eleventh century, 133—136. 

Molda'via, 679. 

Moliere (mo-lyar'), author, 399. 

Molt'ke, General, 625, 627, 628. 

Monasteries, 92—95 ; English monas- 
teries dissolved, 345; French mon- 
asteries dissolved, 492. 

Mon'gol Empire, 694. 

Mongo'ha, relations with China, 719. 

Monk, George, 419. 

Monks, 92-95; military orders, 147. 

Mon 'mouth, duke of, 421. 

Monroe Doctrine, 571. 

MoN/ BlaNc', 4. 

M6n< Ce-ni.y' Pass, 5. 

Montenegro (mon-ta-na'gro), 678, 682- 
685. 

MSn-tes-quiew', 472. 

Mont 'fort, Simon de, 219, 223. 

Moors, in Spain, 281, 379. 

Mo-ra/', battle of, 265. 

Mora 'via, reforms of Joseph II, 475. 

More, Sir Thomas, 344, 346. 

Mor-gar'ten, battle of, 271. 

Morocco, 689, 690. 

Morse, Samuel F. B., inventor, 740. 

Mort'main, Statute of, 220. 



Mos'cow, rise of, 431 ; center of Russian 
conservatism, 434; taken by Napo- 
leon, 536. 

Mountain, French party, 495, 496; 
struggle with Girondists, 499, 501- 
503 ; broken up, 509. 

Movable tower, 151, 161. 

MiiM'berG, battle of, 334. 

Mukden (mook-dSn'), battle of, 703. 

Mu'nic^, revolution of 1848 in, 621. 

Municipal ownership of public utilities, 
748. 

Mii-rat', king of Naples, 533, 543. 

Muril'lo, artist, 315. 

Mus'covy, 431. 

Mutsuhito (moot'soo-hi'to), of Japan, 



Nan'cy, battle of, 265. 

Nanking', revolutionists at, 716, 718. 

Nantes, Terror at, 506. 

Nantes, Edict of, 363 ; revoked, 396. 

Na'ples, under the Pope, 122, 126; 
under Frederick II, 125; under 
Charles of Anjou, 126; taken by 
France, 266; taken by Aragon, 266; 
under Spain, 283, 299 ; under Austria, 
394.53°; under Bourbons, 530 ; Na- 
poleon in, 530, 533 ; Murat king of, 
533 ; Bourbons restored, 543 ; Liberal 
movement in (1820), 570; Revolution 
of 1848, 610, 611 ; added to Piedmont, 
615. 

Napo'leon Bo'naparte, early life, 514; 
defends Convention, 510; Italian 
campaign, '515; in Egypt, 518-520; 
as First Consul, 520; governmental 
reforms, 522—524; relations with the 
Pope, 522, 525, 533; Emperor, 525, 
527—548; continental system, 532; 
Russian campaign, 535 ; abdication, 
S39 ; Waterloo campaign, 540-541 ; 
death of, 541 ; character of, 541 ; per- 
manent influence, 547 ; burial, in 
Paris, 584. 

Napoleon II, 586. 

Napoleon III (Louis Napoleon), 584- 
592 ; coup d'etat, 585 ; Crimean War, 
588; aids Piedmont, 590, 613, 614; 
Liberal reforms, 591 ; relations with 
Prussia, 591-592, 626. 

Nar'va, battle of, 435. 

Naseby (naz'by), battle of, 414. 

Nas'sau, added to Prussia, 625. 



22 



INDEX 



Na-tal', 666, 667. 

National Assembly of lySg, in France, 

487-494; of 1848, 581-583; of 1871- 

187s, 592-595- 
National Convention, French, 498-511. 
National guard, of Paris, 490. 
National workshops in France, 583. 
Nationality, rise of, 261 ; principle of, 547. 
Na-varre', 281, 362. 
Navigation, 308-309, 563. 
Navigation Act, English, 389. 
Necker, finance minister, 480, 481. 
Nelson, Admiral, 519, 527. 
Netherlands, held by duke of Burgundy, 

264; under Charles V, 327, 366; 

Reformation in, 367-369; revolt of, 

369—372; divided, 371; see Holland; 

also see-below. 
Netherlands, Austrian, acquired from 

Spain, 394—395 ; annexed to France, 

500; granted to France, 517; added 

to Holland, 543 ; see Belgium. 
Netherlands, Spanish, 371 ; aggressions 

of Louis XIV, 388; ceded to Austria, 

394, 395- 
New InternationaHsm, 733. 
New Zealand, colony, 462, 665, 671. 
New'foundland, 394, 664. ' 
Newton, Sir Isaac, 424, 470. 
Ney (na), Marshal, 536, 540. 
Nihelungenlied, 201. 
Ni-fije'a, taken by Turks, 140; taken 

by crusaders, 142. 
Nicaea, Council of, 92. 
Nige, annexed to France, 500 ; given up, 

543; added to France, 590, 615. 
Nicholas of Pisa, 310, 311. 
Nicholas I, of Russia, 587-589. 
Nicholas II, of Russia, 700, 709. 
Nicholas V, Pope, 294, 307. 
Nie'men River, 529, 535. 
Nightingale, Miss Florence, 589. 
Ni'hilist terrorism, in Russia, 699-700. 
Nile,, battle of the, 519. 
Nile valley, seat of early civilization, i, 

11; irrigation dams in, 668. 
Nobles, feudal, 58; life of, 163-168; 

of the eighteenth century, 463, 468. 
Normandy, settled by Northmen, 46 ; 

character of, 68; under William, 71 ; 

reunited with England by Henry I, 

212; lost to France, 217. 
Normans, at home, 68 ; in Italy, 69 ; 

in England, 71-76. 



North, Lord, 460. 

North German Confederation, 626, 

630. 
Northern War, 436. 
Northmen, at home, 44; raids of, 44- 

46; settlements of, 46—51; discover 

America, 48. 
Norway, organized, 51; joined with 

Sweden, 543 ; separation from Sweden, 

722. 
No'tre Dame', cathedral, 206, 231-232. 
No-va'ra, battle of, 611. 
Nov'gorod, station of Hanseatic League, 

185. 
Nunneries, 95. 
Nu'remberg, commercial center, 156, 



Oath of the Tennis Court, 487. 

O'Connell, Daniel, 640. 

O'der River, 7. ' 

Odes'sa, revolutionary disturbance at, 

709. 
Odo of Paris, Count, 46. 
0-do-a'cer, king of Italy, 15. 
Old Pretender, 427. 
Old Regime (ra-zheem'), 467-469. 
Old Sa'rum, 641. 
Ol'miitz, conference at, 623. 
Opium War, 694. 
Orange, House of, 390. 
Orange Free State, 666, 667. 
Ordeal, trial by, 61. 
Order of Jesus, 354-355- 
Ordination, sacrament of, 84, 83. 
Or'leanists (fifteenth century), 251, 252. 

(nineteenth century), 594, 595. 
Or'le-ans, siege of, 253, 254. 
Orleans, duke of (Louis Philippe), 575. 
Orleans, Maid of, 253. 
Orleans Monarchy, 575, 578—581. 
Oscar II, of Sweden, 723. 
Os'trogoths, in Italy, 15, 16. 
Otto I, of Germany, 100; Emperor, 102. 
Otto IV, Emperor, 122. 
Ot'toman Turks, 155; .jee Turkey. 
Oxford, University of, 193. 

Palace School, Charlemagne's, 36. 
Pa-lat'i-nate, war with Spain (161S), 

373; war with Louis XIV, 391. 
Pal'a-tine, count, 268, 372, 391. 
Pale, in Ireland, 351. 
Pal'es-tine, see Crusades. 



INDEX 



23 



Pii-mir' plateau, 700. 

Pan-a-ma', freed from malaria, 740. 

Panama Canal, 587. 

Papacy, see Pope. 

Papal legates, defined, 89. 

Papal States, 90, 122 ; in the time of the 
Renaissance, 299, 301-302 ; in the 
nineteenth century, 607, 610-61 1, 615. 

Parcel post, 748. 

Paris, besieged by Northmen, 45 ; under 
Philip Augustus, 230; taken by King 
Charles VII, 256, 255 ; besieged by 
Henry III and Henry IV, 362 ; im- 
provements under Louis XIV, 396; 
in French Revolution, 490, 491, 494- 
499, 502, 503, 506, 507, 510; taken by 
Allies, 539, 541 ; insurrections at 
(1832, 1834), 580; improvements of 
Napoleon III, 587 ; taken by Ger- 
mans, 592, 629; Commune in 1871, 

593- 

Paris, Declaration of, 589. 

Paris, Parlement of, 234, 480, 481. 

Paris, peace of (1763), 458; (1782- 
1783), 461; (i8s6), 589. 

Paris, treaty of (1815), 543. 

Paris, University of, 190, 191, 193. 

Parishes, church, 85. 

Parlement (par-le-maN') of Paris, 234; 
in the Revolution, 480, 481. 

Par'lia-ment, English, rise of, 221-226; 
Model Parliament, 224; powers en- 
larged, 278; under the Tudors, 280; 
contest with the king, 405, 408-412; 
Petition of Right, 407 ; Long Parlia- 
ment, 409-416, 418-419; Bill of 
Rights, 423, 424; duration of one 
Parliament, 425, 728; power in- 
creased, 425, 428; becomes British 
Parliament by addition of Scottish 
members, 426; Reform Acts, 641- 
64s, 729; Irish members admitted, 
651; present constitution, 655-661; 
decrease of Lords' power, 727-729. 

Parliament of Austraha, 665; of Can- 
ada, 664; of Persia, 714; of South 
Africa, 667; of Turkey, 712. 

Parma, 527, 607, 615. 

Parmentier (par-maN-tya'), encourages 
potato culture, 451. 

Par'nell, Charles Stuart, 651, 652. 

Patrimony of St. Peter, 615. 

Patriotism, rise of, 261. 

Pa-vi'ii, battle of, 332. 



Peace Conferences, at the Hague, 732. 

Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, Peace of Paris, 
etc., see Aix-la-Chapelle, Paris, etc. 

Peace of God, 63. 

Peasants, medieval life of, 169-174; 
revolts in France, 249, 478, 490; re- 
volt in England, 273-276; revolt in 
Germany, 330-331- 

Peel, Sir Robert, 640, 647, 648. 

Pe-king', 695, 696, 698. 

Penance, sacrament of, 84, 323. 

Peninsular War, 534. 

Pension and Insurance Acts, in Great 
Britain, 725. 

Pensions for laborers, 633, 725, 748. 

Pep'in the Short, 21. 

Perry, Commodore, 695. 

Persia, conquered by Mohammedans, 
18; menaced by Russia, 700, 715; 
recent revolution in, 714. 

Peter, Saint, and Rome, 88. 

Peter the Great, of Russia, 431-436. 

Peter the Hermit, 141. 

Petition of Right, 407. 

Pe'trarc/j, -304-306. 

Philip II, Augustus, 'of France, 222-232, 
161 ; in the Third Crusade, 149-151. 

Philip IV, the Fair, 233, 236, 237. 

Philip V, of France, 237. 

PhiHp VI, of France, 237; in Hundred 
Years' War, 241, 243, 244; death, 247. 

Philip II, of Spain, 335 ; war with Eng- 
land, 352 ; in Huguenot wars, 362 ; 
in war with the Netherlands, 367- 
372. 

Philip V, of Spain, 392, 394. 

Philip of Swabia, 122. 

Philippines (lil'ip-pinz), 720. 

P/ed'mont, annexed (temporarily) to 
France, 527; Liberal movement in 
(1820), 570; in Crimean War, 587- 
589, 613 ; war with Austria, 610-611 ; 
grows into kingdom of Italy, 611-616. 

Pilgrimages to the Holy Land, 137. 

Pi'sa, trade with Palestine, 146; com- 
mercial center, 156, 182; cathedral 
of, 202, 290. 

Pisa, Council of, 291. 

Pitt, William (the elder), 455, 458, 459 ; 
(the younger), 501, 546. 

Pi'us II, Pope, 294. 

Pius IX, Pope, 610, 616. 

Pius X, Pope, 618. 

Plague, 246, 421. 



24 



INDEX 



Plan-tag'e-net kings of England, 212- 
221. 

Plas'sey, battle of, 457. 

Plev'na, siege of, 678. 

Pocket boroughs, 641. 

Poitiers (pwa-tya'), battle of, 247. 

Poland, subject to Empire, 103 ; rise of, 
431; serfdom in, 170, 463; Ref- 
ormation in, 357 ; war with Sweden 
(1700), 434-435 ; anarchy and weak- 
ness of, 462 ; partitions of, 463 ; 
duchy of Warsaw, S2g; in 1815, 
542, 543 ; rebelHon of 1830, 576. 

Political economy, 379, 473. 

Po'lo, Marco, 308. 

Pol-ta'va, siege of, 436. 

P6m-e-ra 'ni-a, added to Prussia, 438, 
441. 

Pompadour (poN-pa-door'), Madame de, 
448, 454- 

Pondicherry (p6n-di-sher'i), 456. 

Pope (and papacy), position and powers 
of, 88-90; rise of temporal power, 
18, 21, go; and the Franks, 19, 21; 
and Charlemagne, 30, 31 ; dispute 
with Greek Church, 79; in tenth 
century, loi ; and Otto I, 102 ; in 
eleventh century, 104; investiture 
conflict, 104, 107-111; method of 
election, 106; struggle with empire, 
107-128; triumph of Gregory VII at 
Canossa, 109-110; and Frederick I, 
117— 120; extensive domains of Inno- 
cent III, 122; and Frederick II, 
124-126; triumph over the Hohen- 
staufens, 126—128; and crusades, 140, 
152, 154; claims of Boniface VIII, 
235—236; at Avignon, 236, 288-292; 
Great Schism, 290—292 ; and Coun- 
cils, 291-294; papal decline, 294, 
378; and Luther, 326, 333; and 
Charles V, 332, 334 ; and Henry VIII, 
343, 344 ; summary of Reformation, 
357 ; end of international influence, 
378; and Napoleon, 522, 525, 533; 
and Italian unity, 610, 611, 615, 616; 
loss of temporal power, 615-617; 
infallibility of the Pope, 633. 

Pope, Alexander, poet, 400, 428. 

Popish Plot, in England, 421. 

Popular government, 744. 

Popular sovereignty, principle of, 547, 

744- 
Port Arthur, 696, 697, 703. 



Ports'mouth, treaty of, 704. 

Portugal, rise of, 281, 282 ; independent 
of Spain, 379 ; in East Indies, 456 ; 
and Napoleon, 533, 534; possessions 
in Africa, 6go ; recent history of, 723. 

Postal savings banks, 748. 

Potato, in Europe, 451. 

Poverty, war on, 748. 

Power loom, invented, 556. 

Praemunl're, Statute of, 288. 

Pragmatic Sanction, of Emperor Charles 
VI, 445. 

Pragwe, rise of, 268; revolt at (1618), 
373 ; in Revolution of 1848, 604. 

Prayer Book, English, 346, 348. 

Presbyterianism, 342. 

Presbyterians in England, 413, 414, 419, 
420. 

Pressburg, treaty of, 525. 

Preston, battle of, 414. 

Pretender, Jacobite, 427. 

Pride's Purge, 414—415. 

Priests, parish, 85. 

Primate, defined, 88. 

Prime minister, British, 425, 656. 

Primogeniture, 56. 

Prince of Wales, 220. 

Printing, invention of, 315. 

Printing press, steam, 565. 

Priors, defined, 94. 

Privileged orders, in France, 476. 

Proroguing of Parliament, 408. 

Protectorate, English, 416-418. 

Protestant, origin of name, 333 ; Prot- 
estants and Catholics, see Reforma- 
tion. 

Provinces, ecclesiastical, 88. 

Provisors, Statute of, 288. 

Prussia, rise of, 437-441 ; acquires 
Swedish territory, 436; under Fred- 
erick the Great, 444-453 ; in Seven 
Years' War, 448-450; development 
under Frederick the Great, 450; an- 
nexes part of Poland, 463-464; war 
with Napoleon, 528-529, 537-541 ; 
revival of, 537; in 1848-1890, 620- 
^ii', Zollverein of, 621; Revolution 
of 1848 in, 621 ; war with Denmark, 
624 ; war with Austria, 625 ; war 
with France, 626-630 ; see German 
Empire. 

Ptol'emy, philosopher, 308. 

Public Safety, Committee of, in France, 
504-509. 



INDEX 



25 



Pufendorf (poo'fen-dorf), author, 3q6. 

Pure Food Laws, 747. 

Purgatory, 324. 

Puritans, 349, 404, 405, 407, 411, 414. 

Pym, John, 410-413. 

Pyramids, battle of the, 518. 

Pyrenees (pyr'e-neez), 6. 

Que-bec', capture of (1759), 456. 
Qui' a Empto'res, 220. 

Ra-fine', author, 399. 

Railroads, 561-563 ; government owner- 
ship, 748. 

Raph'a-el, 313-315- 

Rat'isbon, commercial center, 156, 183. 

Raven'na, 18, 19, 21. 

Raymond of Toulouse (too-looz'), 141. 

Recall of elective officers, 745, 746. 

Red-cross flag, 589. 

Red Sunday, 708. 

Referendum, 745, 746. 

Reform Acts, British, 642-644, 729. 

Reformation, 321-358; causes of, 321; 
teachings of Luther, 325-326 ; spread 
of the Reformation, 330; the Ref- 
ormation checked, 330-335 ; Augs- 
burg Confession, 333 ; results of, 
336 ; the Reformation in Switzer- 
land, 340-343 ; in Great Britain, 
343-353 ; in Scotland, 350 ; in Ire- 
land, 351-352; the Reformation in 
France, 360-365 ; the Counter Ref- 
ormation, 353-357 ; in the Nether- 
lands, 367—369; summary view of 
the Reformation, 357. 

Regular clergy, 92. 

Reichsrath (riKs'rat), of Austria, 606. 

Reichstag (riKs'taK), of German Em- 
pire, 632. 

Reign of Terror, in France, 505-509. 

Relics, 85, 153. 

Relief, feudal, 60. 

Religious wars, 360. 

Rem'branrft, artist, 313, 315, 400. 

Renaissance, 302—319; influence of 
crusades on, 158. 

Restoration, in England, 418-4-20. 

Reuchlin (roiK'hn), 317. 

Revival of art, 309-315. 

Revival of learning, 302-309. 

Revolution, French, 467-511, 547. 

Revolution of 1688, in England, 422- 
424. 



Revolution of 1830, 574-576. 

Revolution of 1848, in France, 581 ; 
in other lands, 601-605, 610-61 1, 
620-623. 

Revolutionary Tribunal, French, 506. 

Rheims (remz), archbishop of, 88. 

Rhine, count palatine of, 268, 372, 391. 

Rhine River, 6. 

Rhodes (rodz), Cecil, 689. 

Richard I, the Lion-hearted, of Eng- 
land, 216, 161 ; in the Third Crusade, 
149— 151 ; shield of, 156. 

Richard II, 275, 277, 278. 

Richard III, 280. 

Richardson, Samuel, author, 428. 

Richelieu (re-she-lyu'), ministry of, 
364-366 ; in Thirty Years' War, 375 ; 
founds French Academy, 399. 

Roads, 551, 552, 553. 

Robber barons, 64, 126. 

Robert Guiscard (ges-car'), 69. 

Robert of Normandy, 211, 212; cru- 
sader, 141. 

Robertians, 41, 42, 46. 

Ro'bes-pierre, 499, 504^ 507 ; fall of, 

509- 

Roger of Sicily, 70. 

Rolf, "the Walker," 46, 68. 

Roman- Catholic Church, 79; see 
Church, Pope. 

Roman Empire, ancient history, 1 2 ; 
fall of, 13-15 ; see Eastern Empire. 

Roman law, 16, 197, 523. 

Romanesque type of architecture, 202, 
203. 

Ro-ma'n5fis, in Russia, 431. 

Rotne, sacked by Alaric, 15; attacked 
by Lombards, 18, 19; under Charle- 
magne, 30; bishop of, 18, 88 {see 
Pope) ; map of, 91 ; sacked by the 
Normans, 1 10 ; plundered by soldiers 
of Charles V, 332; and Napoleon, 
533 ; added to kingdom of Italy, 616. 

Rontgen (runt 'gen), scientist, 741. 

Roon, German minister of war, 625. 

Roosevelt (roo'ze-velt), President, helps 
to end Russo-Japanese War, 704; 
second Peace Conference, 733. 

Roses, Wars oi^ 279, 280. 

Rossbach (ros'baK), battle of, 449. 

Rotten boroughs, 641. 

Rouen (roo-aN'), capital of Normandy, 
47- 

Roum (room), Sultan of, 140. 



26 



INDEX 



Roumania (roo-ma'ni-a), independent, 
679; attacks Bulgaria, 684-685. 

Roundheads, 411. 

Rousseau (roo-so'), 472. 

Royal domain, of France, 227-228, 
230, 240, 264, 265. 

Rubens (roo'benz), artist, 313, 315. 

Rudolph of Hapsburg, 266-267. 

Rump Parliament, 415-416, 418—419. 

Rupert, Prince, 413. 

Rurik (roo'rik), of Russia, 47. 

Russell, Lord John, 642, 644, 647. 

Russia, Northmen in, 47; rise of, 431- 
437; war with Sweden, 434—436; 
in Seven Years' War, 448-450; 
annexes part of Poland, 463—464; 
war with Napoleon, 528-529, 535— 
538, 541 ; gains in 1815, 543 ;• aids 
Greece, 571 ; Crimean War, 587- 
589; suppresses Hungarian revo- 
lution, 605 ; development after Cri- 
mean War, 699 ; serfs freed, 699 ; 
Russo-Turkish War, 677-680; in Dual 
Alliance, 676 ; in Triple Entente, 
676 ; in Concert of Great Powers, 
677 ; in China, 697 ; advance on 
India, 700; in Persia, 700, 715; 
in Siberia, 701 ; Russo-Japanese 
War, 702-704; recent revolution in, 
707-711. 

Russian Turkestan, 700. 

Russo-Japanese War, 702-704. 

Russo-Turkish War, 677-680. 

Sacraments, 83. 

Sadowa (sa'do-va), battle of, 625. 

St. An'gelo, Pope's fortress, no. 

St. Barthol'omew, massacre of, 361. 

St. Bernard' Pass, 5. 

St. Gall, monastery, 93. 

St. Goth'ard, Mount, 4. 

St. He-le'na, Napoleon at, 541. 

St. Peter's Church, at Rome, 311. 

St. Petersburg, founding of, 435; revo- 
lutionary disturbance at (1905), 
708. 

St. Sophl'a, Church of, 16, 285. 

St. Vin'cent, Cape, battle of, 518. 

Saints, veneration of, 85. 

Sakhalin (sa-Ka-lyen'), 70*4. 

Sal'adin, 149, 151, 152. 

Sa-ler'no, University of, 192. 

Sa'lian Emperors, 102, 100. 

Sal'ic law, 237. 



Salisbury (s61z'ber-i), Lord, 652, 725. 

Sa-lo-n'i'ki, in Balkan War, 682, 685. 

Salt laws, of France, 478-479. 

Salzburg (zalts'boorK), Protestants ex- 
pelled from, 440. 

San Stefano (sta'fa-no), treaty of, 678, 
679. 

SaN-tos'-Dii-moN/', 743. 

Saone (son) River, 6. 

Sar'acens, 69 ; see Mohammedans. 

Sardinia, acquired by Savoy, 394. 

Sardinia-Piedmont, see Piedmont. 

Savagery, 10. 

Sa-vo-na-ro'la, 295. 

Sa-voy', Waldenses in, 199 ; gains from 
War of Spanish Succession, 394; in 
War of the Austrian Succession, 445 ; 
annexed to France, 500; restored in 
1815, 543 ; added to France, 590, 615. 

Saxon Emperors, 102. 

Saxons, settle in Britain, 15, 48; con- 
quered by Charlemagne, 27. 

Saxony, stem duchy, 99, 120, 121 ; elec- 
torate, 268; Reformation in, 330, 
334; in Thirty Years' War, 374-376; 
in War of the Austrian Succession, 
445 ; in Seven Years' War, 448-450 ; 
and Napoleon, 529, 531 ; in 1815, 542, 
543; in German Empire, 631. 

Scandinavia, in 800, 23. 

Scheldt (skelt) River, Northmen settle 
at, 45. 

Schil'ler, 453. 

Schism (sizm), Great, 290-292; Prot- 
estant, see Reformation. 

Schmal-kal'dic War, 334. 

Scto-las'tic philosophy, 194. 

Schurz (shoorts), Carl, 623. 

Schwyz (shvets), canton of, 271. 

Science, Mohammedan contributions 
to, 135-136; achievements of Roger 
Bacon, 195-196; influence of Renais- 
sance, 307 ; in the seventeenth cen- 
tury, 424 ; advance in eighteenth cen- 
tury, 470 ; in the nineteenth century, 

737-742- 

Scotland, raided by Northmen, 44; 
attacked by Edward I, 220; Reforma- 
tion in, 350; crown united with Eng- 
land's, 403 ; revolt against Charles I, 
409, 412-414; conquered by Crom- 
well, 415; union with England, 426. 

Scott, Sir Walter, 654. 

Scu'tage, 214. 



INDEX 



27 



Scutari (skoo-ta'ri), siege of, 682, 683 ; 
capital of Albania, 684. 

Sea of Japan, battle of, 703. 

Sea power, 450, 546. 

Se-bas'to-pol, siege of, 588. 

Second Coalition against France, 520. 

Second Empire, French, 586-592. 

Sec'ular clergy, 92. 

Se-daN', battle of, 629. 

Sees, ecclesiastical, 87. 

Seine River, 7. 

Self-denying Ordinance, 413. 

Seljukian (sel-jook'i-an) Turks, 136- 
144. 

Sempach (zem'paK), battle of, 271. 

Senate, French, 539, 596. 

Se'poys, 456, 669. 

September Massacres, 498. 

Serfdom (and serfs), in the Middle Ages, 
58, 169-174; in England, 169, 275- 
276; in Poland, 463; survivals of, in 
eighteenth century, 467, 463 ; aboli- 
tion of, by Napoleon, 547 ; in Prussia, 
537 ; in Austrian Empire, 603, 605 ; 
in Russia, 699. 

Ser-ve'tus, heretic, 343. 

Servia, independent, 679; war with 
Turkey (1912-1913), 682-685. 

Service, in feudal system, 60. 

Settlement, Act of, English, 426. 

Seven Weeks' War (1866), 625. 

Seven Years' War, 448-450 ; in America, 
455 ; in India, 457 ; results of, 458. 

Shah, 714. 

Shakespeare, William, 353. 

Shang-ha'i, opened, 695. 

Ship money, in England, 409. 

Shire, in England, 73. 

Shogun (sho'goon), in Japan, 695, 696. 

Siam , 695. 

Siberia, acquired by Russia, 431 ; exile 
to, 700; colonization of, 701. 

Sicily, in Eastern Empire, 23 ; Moham- 
medans in, 69 ; Normans in, 70 ; king- 
dom of, 70; under the Pope, 122, 126 ; 
under Hohenstaufens, 122-126; re- 
forms of Frederick II, 124; under 
Charles of Anjou, 126; held by 
Aragon, 266; under Spain, 283, 299; 
acquired by Austria, 394 ; under 
Bourbons, 530; Revolution of 1848, 
610, 611 ; added to Piedmont, 615. 

Siena (sye'na), picture of, 176. 

Sieyes (sya-yes'), a poHtical writer, 485. 



Sifg'ismund, Emperor, 269, 291, 292. 

Silesia (si-le'shi-a), Prussian, 445, 446. 

Sim'eon Sty-Ii'tes, 93. 

Sim'ony, 104, 105. 

Sim'plon Pass, 5. 

Slavery, abolished in British Empire, 
645- 

Slavs, in 800, 23; Christianized, iot, 
437 ; in Austria, 602-605 ; see 
Russia, Poland. 

Sles'wick-Hol'stein, 624, 625. 

Sluys (slois), battle of, 242. 

Smith, Adam, economist, 473. 

Smolensk', battle of, 536. 

Social Contract, Rousseau's, 473. 

Social justice, 744. 

SociaUsm, spread of, 582, 749. 

Socialists, in France, 582, 583, 597, 750; 
in Germany, 633, 635, 636, 750; in 
other countries, 750. 

Solemn League and Covenant, 412. 

Sol-fe-r'i'no, battle of, 614. 

"Sources" of history, 7. 

South Africa, 665-668, 689. 

South African Republic, 666. 

South Sea Bubble, 454. 

Sovereignty, in the feudal system, 57, 
60 ; of the people, 744. 

Spain, Visigoths in, 15; conquered by 
Mohammedans, 18; in 800, 23; 
raided by Northmen, 44; rise of , 281- 
284; consolidation of, 281; posses- 
sions in Italy, 283, 299 ; Mohamme- 
dans conquered, 281 ; Spanish awaken- 
ing, 295; war with England (1588), 
352 ; revolt of the Netherlands, 367- 
372; in Thirty Years' War, 376; 
position after the religious wars, 379; 
under Bourbons, 392 ; War of the 
Spanish Succession, 392-395 ; in War 
of the Austrian Succession, 445 ; in 
the Seven Years' War, 458 ; war 
with Great Britain (1779-1782), 461; 
Napoleon in, 533, 534 ; Joseph Bona- 
parte king of, 533 ; Bourbon king 
restored, 539; in 1814-1823, 569-570; 
loses American colonies, 570; Revo- 
lution of 1869, 627; after 1870, 719- 
721 ; war with United States, 720. 

Spanish Awakening, 295. 

Spanish colonies, in America, 282, 379 ; 
Florida, 458, 461 ; Louisiana, 458, 
527 ; Mexico and South America, 570 ; 
in Africa, 689, 690. 



28 



INDEX 



Spanish literature, 380. 

Spanish Succession, War of, 391—395. 

Spenser, Edmund, poet, 353. 

Spinning, changes in, 553-556, 560. 

Spires (spirz). Diet at, 332. 

Squire, in feudal life, 163. 

Stad 'holder, of Netherlands, 390. 

Stanley, Henry M., 687. 

Star Chamber, Court of, 408, 410. 

State, rise of the modern, 260. 

States-General, of the Netherlands, 366. 

Steam engine, invented, 557—559. 

Steam navigation, 563. 

Steele, Sir Richard, author, 428. 

Stein (shtin). Baron, 537. 

"Stem" duchies, 99, 121. 

Stephen of Blois (blwa), crusader, 142. 

Stephen of Blois, king of England, 212. 

Stephenson, George, inventor, 561. 

SteZ-tin', acquired by Prussia, 441. 

Stor'tMng, of Norway, 723. 

Strafford, earl of, 408, 410. 

Straits Settlements, 669. 

Strassburg (shtras'boorK), seized by 
France, 390, 391 ; ceded to German 
Empire, 630. 

Strelt'si, old Russian army, 434. 

Strike, general, 709. 
"Stuart kings of England, 403—427. 

Styr'ia, acquired by Hapsburgs, 267. 

Subinfeudation, 57. 

Submarine cable, 741. 

Sudan (soo-dan'), Anglo-Egyptian, 681. 

Su-ez' Canal, 586, 680. 

Suffragettes, in Great Britain, 730. 

Sully, duke of, 364. 

Sun Yat Sen, Dr., 716, 718. 

Supremacy, Statute of, 345, 349. 

Suspects, Law of the, 505-506. 

Swa'bia, stem duchy, 99. 

Sweden, organized, 51 ; Reformation 
in, 358; in Thirty Years' War, 374- 
376; war with Louis XIV, 388; war 
with Russia, 434-436 ; decline of, 434- 
436 ; and Napoleon, 533 ; and Nor- 
way, 543, 722. 

Swift, Jonathan, author, 428. 

Switzerland, growth of, 270-272 ; war 
with Burgundy, 265 ; independence 
gained, 272; Reformation in, 340- 
343, 357, 358; independent, 378;. 
under the Directorate, 520; in 1815, 
543 ; Initiative and Referendum 
in, 745- 



Syl-ves'ter II, Pope, 103. 

Syria, conquered by Mohammedans, 18; 
Turkish conquests in, 138; cru- 
saders' states in, 146; Napoleon in, 
519. 

Tal'leyrand, 539, 543. 

Tariff, in France, 387; in Germany, 

621, 635; proposed in Great Britain, 

731. 
Tasmania (taz-ma'ni-a), 665. 
Taxes, 262; farmed out in France, 387. 
Te-he-ran', revolutionists in, 715. 
Telegraph, 740. 
Telephone, 741. 
Telescope, 308. 
Tell, William, 270. 
Templars, Knights, 146. 
Tennis Court, oath of the, 487. 
Tennyson, Alfred, 654, 734. 
Terror, in France, 505—509. 
Test Act, English, 420. 
Tet'zel, 323, 324. 
Teutonic Knights, 146, 437. 
Theod'oric the Great, of Italy, 15. 
Thes'sa-ly, added to Greece, 680. 
Thiers (tyar), 580, 592-595. 
Third Coalition against France, 528. 
Third Estate, rise of, 174; in France.. 

474, 485-488. 
Thirty-nine Articles, 348. 
Thirty Years' War, 372. 
Thomas Becket, 215-216. 
Ti-bet', relations with China, 719. 
Til'sit, peace of, 529. 
Tithe, church, 87. 
Titian (tish'an), 313, 315. 
T5-go', Admiral, 703. 
To'goland, 688. 
Toleration, 336. 

Toleration Act, in England, 424. 
Tonnage and poundage, 408. 
Tonsure, ceremony of, 82, 81. 
Tories, origin of party, 421 ; oppose 

Hanoverians, 427 ; regain power 

under George III, 460; and the 

French Revolution, 547 ; renamed 

Conservatives, 644. 
Toulon (too-loN'), siege of, 514. 
Toulouse (too-looz'), Albigenses in, 199. 
Toulouse, count of, 230. 
Tournaments, 62, 165. 
Tours (toor), battle of, 20. 
Towns, see Cities. 



INDEX 



29 



Township, in England, 73. 

Traf-al-gar', battle of, 527, 546. 

Trans-Siberian railway, 701. 

Transubstantiation, 84. 

Trans- vaal', 666, 667. 

Trent, Council of, 334, 353. 

Treves (trevz), archbishop of, elector, 
268. 

Trev'ithick, Richard, 561. 

Trials, feudal system, 61 ; by jury, 214. 

Triennial Acts, English, 425. 

Trin-i-dad', 522, 543. 

Triple Alliance, 676. 

Triple Entente (aN-taNt'), 676. 

Tripoli (Africa), taken by Italy, 681, 713. 

TripoU (Asia), crusaders' state, 145, 149. 

Troubadour (troo'ba-door) songs, 200. 

Trouveres (troo-var'), 201. 

Troyes (trwa), fair at, 184. 

Troyes, treaty of, 252. 

Truce of God, 63. 

Tsar, title, 433. 

Tudor sovereigns, of England, 280, 343— 
353- 

Tuileries (twel-re'), palace, 491, 497 ; 
partly burned, 593, S94- 

Tu'nis, attacked by crusaders, 154; 
French protectorate, 681. 

Tii-renw«', general, 390. 

Tiir-go^', minister of finance, 479-480. 

Turkey, war against Russia, 436; war 
with Napoleon, 519; Crimean War, 
587-589; Russo-Turkish War, 677- 
680; war with Greece (1897), 680; 
war with Italy, 681 ; Balkan War, 
682-685; recent revolution in, 711— 
714. 

Turks, Ottoman, 284; wars with 
Charles V of Germany, 333 ; see 
Turkey. 

Turks, Seljukian, conquests of, 136, 138, 
140; in crusades, 142-144. 

Tus'cany, in the time of the Renais- 
sance, 299-301 ; annexed (tempo- 
rarily) to France, 533 ; joined to 
Piedmont, 610, 615. 

Two Sicilies, kingdom of, 299; see 
Sicily and Naples. 

Tyler, Wat, 274, 275. 

Tyr'ol, acquired by Hapsburgs, 267. 

U-kase', in Russia, 434, 700. 
Ulm (oolm), commercial center, 183; 
taken by Napoleon, 528. 



Ulster, threatened revolt, 730. 

U'nam Sanc'tam, bull, 235. 

Uniformity, Statute of, in England, 349. 

Union of South Africa, 667. 

United Kingdom of Great Britain and 
Ireland, 651. 

United Netherlands, 378, 379; see 
Holland. 

United States, in X, Y, Z affair, 520; 
purchases Louisiana, 527; Monroe 
Doctrine, 571 ; demands evacuation 
of Mexico, 590 ; awakening of Japan, 
695; in Boxer War (China), 698; 
war with Spain, 720; in Hague 
Peace Conferences, 732— 733; govern- 
ment compared with the British, 
658; Initiative and Referendum in, 

745- 
Universities, medieval, 188-194, 
Unterwalden (oon-ter-val'den), canton 

of, 271. 
Ur'ban II, Pope, 140. 
Urban VI, Pope, 290, 292. 
Uri (00 're), canton of, 271. 
U'trecM, peace of, 394. 
Utrecht, Union of, 371. 

Vaccination, 740. 

Va'lens, Emperor, 15. 

Val'la, Lorenzo, 307. 

Valmy (val-me'), battle of, 498. 

Valois (val-wa') kings, 237, 360, 363. 

Vandals, 15, 16. 

Van Dyck', 315. 

Vassalage, 55-57, 60; see Serfdom. 

Vat'ican, home of the Pope, 616. 

Vatican, Council of, 633. 

Vauban (vo-baN'), engineer, 386, 390. 

Vega, Lope de (va'ga, lo'pa da), 380. 

Velasquez (va-las'kath), 315. 

Vendee (vaN-da'), insurrection in, 502. 

Vendome (vaN-dom') Column, 529, 593. 

Venetia (ven-e'shi-a), under Austria, 
607, 610-61 1 ; added to kingdom of 
Italy, 616, 625 ; see Venice. 

Ven'ice, in Lombard League, 119; 
commercial center, 156, 182 ; trade 
with Palestine, 146; in Fourth 
Crusade, 152 ; possessions in the 
East, 153 ; Renaissance in, 313 ; 
conquered by Napoleon, and ceded 
to Austria, 517; again under Na- 
IX)leon, 530; Venetia ceded to 
Austria, 544, 607; revolt of 1848, 



30 



INDEX 



610-611; Venetia ceded to Italy, 

616, 625. 
Ver-duN', partition of, 40. 
Versailles (ver-sa'y'), palace, 397-400. 
Versailles, peace of (1871), 630. 
Vic'tor Emman'uel II, 611, 612, 615. 
Victor Emmanuel III, 617. 
Victoria, of England, 639, 653, 654; 

Empress of India, 669. 
Vienna, besieged by Turks, 333; 

taken by Napoleon, 528, 534; Revo- 
lution of 1848, 603-605. 
Vienna, Congress of (1814-1815), 539, 

542. 
Vienna, treaties of (1815), 543. 
Vi'kings, 44. 

VJl'la-friin'ca, peace of, 614. 
Vil'leins, 58, 169-174; see Serfdom. 
Vinci (ven'che), Leonar'do da, 313. 
Vinland, Northmen in, 48. 
Virginia, founded, 405. 
Vli'count, rank in feudal system, 58. 
Visigoths (viz'i-goths) , invade Roman 

Empire, 13. 
Vis' tula River, 7. 

Vladivostok (vla-dye-vas-tok') , 701. 
Vol'ga River, 7. 
Vol-ta^re', 471, 474, 480. 
Vosges (vozh) Mountains, 6. 
"Votes for Women," in Great Britain, 

730. 

Wagram (va'gram), battle of, 534. 
Waldenses (wal-den'sez), 198. 
Waldo, Peter, of Lyons, 198. 
Wales, annexed to England, 219-220; 

disestablishment of the Anglican 

Church in, 729. 
Wallachia (wa-la'ki-a), 679. 
Wal'len-stein, 373, 375. 
Wal'pole, Sir Robert, 427. 
Walter the Penniless, crusader, 141. 
Warsaw, in rebellion of 1830, 576; 

duchy of, 529, 542. 
Wartburg (vart'boorK), Luther at, 328. 
Washington, George, 455. 
Waterloo', battle of, 541. 
Watt, James, inventor, 558. 
Weaving, changes in, 553-557, 560. 
Wed'more, treaty of, 49. 
Weihaiwei (wa'hi-waO, 696, 697. 
Welf family, 115, 116, 120. 
Wellesley (welz'ley). Sir Arthur, 534; 

see Wellington. 



Wellington, duke of, in Peninsular 
War, 534; in Waterloo campaign, 
540-541; cjuoted, 573; Catholic 
emancipation, 640. 

Wentworth, Sir Thomas, 408. 

Wes'ley, John and Charles, 427. 

Wessex, 48-50. • 

West Indies, France and England in, 
4S6. 

Western Empire, 15, 31—33; see Em- 
peror. 

West'minster Confession, 414. 

Westpha'lia, kingdom of, 530. 

Westphalia, peace of, 376. 

Whigs, rise of, 421, 427 ; and the French 
Revolution, 547 ; favor reform, 642 ; 
renamed Liberals, 644. 

Whitney, Eli, 557. 

Wil'berforce, William, 645. 

Wilham I, the Conqueror, of England 
and Normandy, 71—75. 

William II, Rufus, of England and 
Normandy, 211. 

William III, of England (William III 
of Orange), 423—426. 

William IV, of England, 639. 

William I, of Orange, 368—371. 

William III, of Orange, 390, 422-426. 

Wilham I, of Prussia and the German 
Empire, 623, 625, 627. 

William II, of Prussia and the German 
Empire, 634, 635. 

Wilson, President Woodrow, quoted, 
746, 747- 

Wisby (vis'bii) in Hanseatic League, 
185. 

Wit'e-na-ge-mot, 221. 

Wittenberg (vit'en-berK), University 
of, 323- 

Wolsey (wool'zy). Cardinal, 343, 346. 

Woman suffrage, 730, 744. 

Worcester (woos'ter), battle of, 415- 

Wordsworth, William, 654. 

World at the close of the eighth cen- 
tury, 22. 

World State, 677, 733. 

World's Fairs, 587. 

Worms (vorms). Concordat of, in. 

Worms, Diet at, 327. 

Worth (vurt), battle of, 629. 

Wright, Orville and Wilbur, 743. 

Wiirttemberg (vurt'em-berK), kingdom, 
53°. 531. 626, 630. 

Wyc'lif, John, 276, 292. 



INDEX 



31 



Xavier (zav'i-er), Francis, 355. 
Ximenes (z!-me'nez), Archbishop, 295. 
X-rays, 741. 
X, Y, Z Affair, 5-'o. 

Yalu (ya-looO valley, 70J, 703. 
Vokoha'ma, opened to trade, 695. 
Yorck, Prussian general, 537. 
York, literary center, 36. 
York, 'house of, 279, 280. 
York, James, duke of. 420, 421. 
Yorktown, battle of, 461. 



Young, Arthur, traveler, 479. . 
Young Italy, 608. 
Young Pretender, 427. 
Young Turks, 711, 712, 713. 
Yuan (yoo-an') Shi'A Kaf, 717, 



719. 



Zeppelin (tsep-e-len') airship, 742. 

Zollverein (tsol'fer-In), 621. 

Zu'ric/?, Swiss city, 272; Reformation 

at, 340. 
Zurich, treaty of, 615. 
Zwingli (tsving'le), Ulrich, 340-341. 



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